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VA » Health Care » Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC) » Post Doc » CIVIC Core Investigators

Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC)

CIVIC Core Investigators

Steven Dobscha, MD is CIVIC’s Director. His research focuses on topics highly relevant to the care of Veterans including suicide prevention, chronic pain, and patient-centered care. Dr. Dobscha has received prior HSR&D funding for studies of depression and chronic pain collaborative care, studies that examined care received in proximity to suicidal ideation and suicide, and a study of impacts of Veteran on-line access to mental health progress notes. He also partnered with the Technology and Telehealth (T2) group at Joint Base Lewis-McChord to examine effectiveness of a smartphone app in reducing suicidal thoughts, and recently developed and evaluated a program to train primary care clinicians to deliver lethal means safety messaging to at risk Veterans in primary care settings. Dr. Dobscha serves as Research Consultant for the VA Portland Health Care System Mental Health and Clinical Neuroscience Division, and has served on several HSR&D CDA Scientific Merit Review Boards and other national VA workgroups and committees. He is Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University.

You can contact Steven Dobscha by email at Steven.Dobscha@va.gov.

Consortium of Research (CORE): Suicide Prevention Research Impact Network (SPRINT) (Principal Investigator)

The mission of SPRINT is to accelerate health services research that will lead to improvements in care and result in reductions in suicide behaviors among Veterans. SPRINT members include health services suicide prevention researchers from around the country, VA operations partners, and other stakeholders. Three hubs will assist researchers in designing and conducting team science projects that address high priority topics.

Understanding Impact of VHA's New Suicidal Ideation Screening Initiative: Veteran's Perspective (Principal Investigator)

The primary goal of this study is to characterize Veteran experiences with VHA’s new SI screening process and the clinical evaluation that takes place in response to screen results. We will also examine the extent to which screening process variables are associated with mental health treatment utilization over 6 months.
Grant: VA HSR&D IIR

Examining the Effectiveness of an Adaptive Implementation Intervention to Improve Uptake of the VA Suicide Risk Identification Strategy (Co-Investigator)

The objective of this national quality improvement project is to develop an adaptive strategy to improve implementation of VA’s new suicide risk screening initiative (Risk ID) to fidelity.
Grant ID: VA QUERI Partnered Evaluation Initiative PEC 190-303

Gender Differences in Veteran Reintegration and Associated Suicide Risk (Co-Investigator)

The goal of this national longitudinal study is to identify individual differences in predisposing factors and reintegration challenges that distinguish risk for suicide during reintegration.
PI: Lauren Denneson
Grant ID: I01 HX003660-01

Tele-Collaborative Outreach to Rural Patients with Chronic Pain: The CORPs Trial (Co-Investigator)

The major goals of this pragmatic effectiveness trial are to determine if a telehealth intervention can improve pain and quality of life outcomes, while increasing use of non-pharmacologic pain treatments, in rural veterans with chronic pain.
Principal Investigator: Travis Lovejoy
Grant ID: NIH UG3 AT012257

KeepItSecure (PREVENTS) Lethal Means Safety Campaign Evaluation (Co-Investigator)

The overall goal of the project is to describe initial responses to VA KeepItSecure PSA to guide future message content and delivery approaches of lethal means safety messaging.
Principal Investigator: Karras

Advancing Suicide Prevention for Female Veterans (Co-Investigator)

The over-arching goal of this work is to inform gender-tailored suicide prevention approaches, using a large, national sample of female and male Veterans with recent non-fatal suicidal self-directed violence (SSV: fatal and non-fatal suicide attempts). We aim to develop and test explanatory models of female and male risk for a repeat SSV event over 12 months, and identify similarities and differences in patterns of healthcare utilization, coping strategies, and symptom change over time between female and male Veterans at risk for SSV.
Principal Investigator: Lauren Denneson
Grant ID: IIR 17-131

Chronic Pain Management and Patient-Centered Outcomes Following Discontinuation of Long-Term Opioid Therapy (Co-Investigator)

The goal of this VA HSR&D career development award is to characterize pain treatment utilization in veterans with co-occurring substance use disorders and develop and test the preliminary effectiveness of a collaborative pain intervention for veterans with chronic pain receiving specialty treatment for alcohol and drug use disorders.
Principal Investigator: Travis Lovejoy
Grant ID: IIR 17-268

Impact of Prescription Opioid Dose Changes on Cannabis Use and Clinical Outcomes (Co-Investigator)

This is a national prospective cohort study examining changes in cannabis use following prescription opioid discontinuation and the impact of these changes on pain and quality of life.
Principal Investigator: Morasco
Grant ID: NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse 1R01DA048817

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Chen JI, Ono SS, Laliberte AZ, Roth B, Dobscha SK, Center To Improve Veteran Involvement In Care Veteran Engagement Group (VEG). Veteran community engagement and social connection needs following inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. 2022 Aug 1.
Dobscha SK, Clark KD, Karras E, Simonetti JA, Newell S, Kenyon EA, Elliott V, Boster J, Gerrity M. Development and Preliminary Evaluation of an Education Program for Primary Care Teams on Discussing Firearms Storage Safety with Veterans. Journal of medical education and curricular development. 2022 Feb 14; 9:23821205221077647.
Dobscha SK, Luther SL, Kerns RD, Finch DK, Goulet JL, Brandt CA, Skanderson M, Bathulapalli H, Fodeh SJ, Hahm B, Bouayad L, Lee A, Han L. Mental Health Diagnoses are Not Associated With Indicators of Lower Quality Pain Care in Electronic Health Records of a National Sample of Veterans Treated in Veterans Health Administration Primary Care Settings. The journal of pain. 2022 Sep 24
Dobscha SK, Newell SB, Elliott VJ, Rynerson AL, Rabin S, Bahraini N, Post EP, Denneson LM. Primary Care and Mental Health Staff Perspectives on Universal Suicide Risk Screening and Care Coordination. Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.). 2022 Aug 12; appips20220087.
Hulen E, Rynerson AL, Dobscha SK. Vaccine hesitancy among Veterans Affairs Health Care System employees. Preventive medicine reports. 2022 Apr 1; 26:101702.

Lauren M. Denneson, MS, PhD is CIVIC's Associate Director, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University's School of Medicine, and a Core investigator with the VA Suicide Prevention Research Impact Network. Dr. Denneson is a social psychologist with training in health promotion and disease prevention. Her research primarily centers on suicide prevention, with special focus areas of patient-centered care and social determinants of health. She also serves as the lead evaluator for the VA Portland Health Care System’s Whole Health transformation, a national VHA initiative that aims to transform VHA into a patient-centered health care system that facilitates patient self-management and empowerment. Dr. Denneson completed her BA in Psychology at the University of Minnesota and her MS and PhD in Applied Social Psychology at Portland State University.

You can contact Lauren Denneson by email at Lauren.Denneson@va.gov.

Gender differences in Veteran reintegration and associated suicide risk (Principal Investigator)

The goals of this longitudinal cohort study of reintegrating Veterans are to describe the reintegration trajectories of Veterans at risk for suicide, identifying any gender differences, and examine the associations among reintegration trajectories and suicide risk, accounting for predisposing factors. Findings will inform suicide prevention efforts during Veteran reintegration, tailored by gender.
Grant ID: I01 HX003660 SDR

A Multi-Method Examination of Veteran Crisis Line Emergency Dispatches (Site Principal Investigator)

The goal of this study is to examine the impact of emergency dispatch use among Veterans Crisis Line callers on healthcare utilization and subsequent suicide risk outcomes.
Principal Investigator: Britton
Grant Type: VA HSR&D IIR

Suicide Prevention Trials Database (Principal Investigator)

The goal of this project is to establish a repository of study-level data from all published trials in suicide prevention, using systematic review methods to abstract and harmonize data across studies.
Principal Investigator: Lauren Denneson and Maya O'Neil
Grant ID: VA CSR&D SDR

Spatiotemporal clustering of Veteran suicides in rural Oregon (Principal Investigator)

This project aims to examine the spatiotemporal community factors associated with suicide clusters among Veterans in Oregon and identify methods to expand this work nationally.
Grant ID: ORH-VRHRC-PDX-FY20-3

Advancing Suicide Prevention for Female Veterans (Principal Investigator)

Motivational Interviewing to Address Suicidal Ideation: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Veterans (Site Principal Investigator)

This randomized controlled trial will examine the efficacy of a revised version of Motivational Interviewing to Address Suicidal Ideation (MI-SI-R) plus enhanced usual care (EUC) when compared to EUC alone on risk for suicide attempts and the presence and severity of suicidal ideation over 12 months. It will also explore hypothesized moderators and mediators of the intervention’s efficacy.
Principal Investigator: Britton
Grant ID: I01CX002359

A pilot trial of health coaching to improve functioning and reduce suicide risk among reintegrating Veterans (Principal Investigator)

This randomized controlled pilot trial will 1) Examine the feasibility of study procedures and acceptability of the health coaching intervention among reintegrating Veterans; 2) Evaluate measures of mediators and outcomes for suitability in a future confirmatory efficacy trial; and 3) Determine barriers and facilitators of implementation of health coaching among reintegrating Veterans.
Grant ID: I01 RX003704

Increasing Social Connection Through Crisis Caring Contacts: A Pragmatic Trial (Co-Investigator)

This pragmatic randomized controlled trial will evaluate the effectiveness of crisis caring contacts in decreasing loneliness, evaluate the effect of crisis caring contacts on other important outcomes including treatment engagement and suicidal ideation, explore moderators of treatment response to crisis caring contacts, and explore the effect of crisis caring contacts on all cause mortality, suicide attempts, and drug overdoses.
Principal Investigator: Alan Teo
Grant ID: I01 HX003428

Implementation of a Pragmatic Trial of Whole Health Team vs. Primary Care Group Education to Promote Non-Pharmacological Strategies to Improve Pain, Functioning, and Quality of Life in Veterans (Co-Investigator)

The goal of this UG3/UH3 proposal is to conduct a pragmatic implementation-effectiveness trial in which we will develop, pilot and implement two care delivery approaches for over 600 veterans with moderate to severe chronic pain who will be randomized to receive either: (1) an intensive Whole Health Team (WHT) approach versus (2) a less intensive, usual care Primary Care Group Education (PC-GE).
Principal Investigator: Karen Seal and William Becker
Grant ID: 1UG3AT009765

Suicide Prevention Research Impact NeTwork (SPRINT) (Co-Investigator)

The goals of this consortium are to serve as a collaborative network of VHA and non-VHA researchers, synthesize and report on research in the suicide prevention field, identify and prioritize key gaps in research, facilitate the development of high-quality and high-impact projects, promote growth of the field, and serve as a conduit of information among researchers, operations, and other stakeholders.
Principal Investigator: Steven Dobscha
Grant ID: COR 19-490

Understanding Impact of VHA's New Suicidal Ideation Screening Initiative: Veteran's Perspective (Co-Investigator)

The primary purpose of this 3-year, mixed-methods study is to develop a greater understanding of the impacts of Risk-ID screening processes from the Veterans’ perspective. Information derived from this project will help inform new clinical approaches, and support additional research to improve suicide risk detection, evaluation and clinical response, with the ultimate goal of reducing suicidal self-directed violence (SSV) among Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Steven Dobscha
Grant ID: HSR&D I01 HX002987

Understanding documented clinical decision making and outcomes of high risk for suicide flag inactivation among Veterans with recent suicide attempts (Principal Investigator)

This Small Award Initiative for Impact (SWIFT) project seeks to understand how clinical decisions are made to inactivate high risk for suicide flags after a recent non-fatal suicide attempt and explore patient outcomes following flag inactivation.

Prevention of Firearm Injuries among Rural Veterans in the US (Co-Investigator)

This project focuses on the prevention of firearm injuries among Veterans living in the rural US; in this second phase (Year 2) of the project, we will conduct qualitative research with VA healthcare providers and Veterans from 10 geographically-diverse, primarily-rural VA sites to understand current practices, barriers and facilitators, Veterans’ perspectives, and experiences related to firearm risk-reduction programs.
Principal Investigator: Kathleen Carlson
Grant ID: VRHRC 15528 RH

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Dobscha SK, Newell SB, Elliott VJ, Rynerson AL, Rabin S, Bahraini N, Post EP, Denneson LM. Primary Care and Mental Health Staff Perspectives on Universal Suicide Risk Screening and Care Coordination. Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.). 2022 Aug 12; appips20220087
Newell S, Denneson L, Rynerson A, Rabin S, Elliott V, Bahraini N, Post EP, Dobscha SK. Veterans Health Administration staff experiences with suicidal ideation screening and risk assessment in the context of COVID-19. PLoS ONE. 2021 Dec 28; 16(12):e0261921
Tompkins KJ, Roth B, Wu T, Somohano VC, Denneson LM. Perspectives on military culture among veterans with a recent suicide attempt: Illustrating gender differences and informing suicide prevention. Armed forces and society. 2022 Sep 16; https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X221123375
Beech EH, Rahman B, Ward R, Denneson LM, Parr NJ. Evidence Compendium: Selective and Indicated Interventions for Suicide Prevention. Evidence Synthesis Program, Health Services Research and Development Service. Washington, DC: Office of Research and Development, Department of Veterans Affairs; 2022 Jul 12. 43 p. Report No.: VA ESP Project #09-199
Denneson LM, Tompkins KJ, McDonald K, Britton PC, Hoffmire CA, Smolenski DJ, Carlson KF, Dobscha SK. Gender differences in recovery needs after a suicide attempt: A national qualitative study of US military veterans. Medical Care, 59, 565-69, 2021

Dr. Barrett is a Hospitalist physician educator, scientist, and entrepreneur at the Portland VA and Associate Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Perioperative medicine was an early focus of his research career with database inquiries and a small prospective patient cohort study. He then collaborated with nanotechnology engineers in the Oregon Nanomedicine Interdisciplinary Research Group and spun out two biotech companies in the diagnostic space with applications in sepsis and cardiovascular disease. After shutting down the last company, Dr. Barret has been focusing on teaching biotechnology innovation and entrepreneurship to OHSU medical students and faculty and has remained active in the Oregon biotech community. Dr. Barrett’s research has also returned to perioperative medicine, and he is currently working to update how risk is assessed before surgery using pharmacogenomics, artificial intelligence, and super computers on a team that includes the VA National Artificial Intelligence Institute and the VA Surgical Quality Improvement Program.

Dr. Barrett received a BS from Georgetown University, MD with Residency in Internal Medicine at The Ohio State University, and a Masters In Clinical Research from OHSU. Dr. Barrett founded the Oregon Chapter of the Society of Hospital Medicine and the Portland Chapter of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs.

Precision Pharmacogenomic Perioperative Prediction (Principal Investigator)

Grant Type: VA Merit Pilot

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Sing H, DuBois B, Al-Jammali Z, Barrett T. Pharmacogenomics in the clinic: genetic polymorphism contributing to venlafaxine-associated heart failure. Pharmacogenomics. 2019 Nov;20(17):1175-1178

Jennifer L. Barton, MD, MCR is the Rheumatology Section Chief at the VA Portland Health Care System and Professor of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. Her research focuses on patient-clinician communication, shared decision making, and the rheumatic diseases. She is also co-lead of the VISN 20 VA Rheumatology ECHO which began in 2019.

Dr. Barton has received a K23 award from the NIH to examine patient-clinician goal concordance in rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Barton completed fellowship at University of California, San Francisco, and was an assistant professor at UCSF, where she received a career development award from the American College of Rheumatology to study patient-physician discordance around assessment of disease severity in rheumatoid arthritis, and led the development of a low literacy medication summary guide and decision aid tool for vulnerable populations with RA.

Dr. Barton is currently a co-investigator on three CIVIC projects: "Listening to Gulf War Veterans: A Qualitative Inquiry into the Health Experience and Treatment of those with Chronic Multisymptom Illness" (VA HSR&D grant I01 HX002148-01A@; PI: Helfand); "Patient-Centered Decision Support for Veterans Making Choices About Where to Get Their Health Care: 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?'" (VA HSR&D Research to Impact for Veterans grant; PI: Slatore); and "Adapting Caring Contacts to Counteract Adverse Effects of Social Distancing during COVID-19" (HSR&D grant C19 20-216; PI: Teo).

Implementation of shared decision making in rheumatoid arthritis: A stepped wedge, cluster-randomized trial (Principal Investigator)

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-component shared decision making intervention on RA disease activity, adherence to RA medications and patient knowledge of RA.
Grant ID: 1 I01 HX003260-01A2

Incorporating PRO Data Into RA Clinical Encounters Using Health-IT (PACT) (Consultant)

This study aims to develop scalable health IT interventions to fill the current gap in use of PRO data in practice, with the goal of improving outcomes for the 1.3 million Americans with RA.
Principal Investigator: Schmajuk
Grant ID: R01 HS025405

Listening to Gulf War Veterans: A Qualitative Inquiry into the Health Experience and Treatment of those with Chronic Multisymptom Illness (Co-Investigator)

The overarching goal is to create a comprehensive repository of qualitative patient interviews about experiences of Gulf War-related, chronic, multisymptom illness that can be used to motivate system change; inform research, clinical practice, and VA policy; and provide an ongoing resource for Veterans, caregivers, researchers, clinicians, and VA system leaders.
Principal Investigator: Mark Helfand
Grant ID: I01 HX002148-01A2

Patient-Centered Decision Support for Veterans Making Choices About Where to Get Their Health Care: "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" (Co-PI)

The goal of this Research to Impact for Veterans proposal is to increase the ability of patients to make informed decisions that incorporate their individual values and preferences about the potential benefits, harms, and burdens of choosing between direct VA care and community care by creating and testing feasible, readily-implementable decision support tools for Veterans guided by theoretic models of patient-centered communication and shared decision-making.
Principal Investigator: Christopher Slatore
Grant ID: HSR&D Research to Impact for Veterans

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Hulen E, Larsen C, Matsumoto R, Katz P, Barton JL. "You can't touch, you can't bond": Exploring COVID-19 pandemic impacts on rheumatoid arthritis patient goals and communication with clinicians. Musculoskeletal care. 2022 Sep 8
Morrison T, Foster E, Dougherty J, Barton J. Shared decision making in rheumatology: A scoping review. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. 2022 Oct 1; 56:152041
Barton JL, Markwardt S, Niederhausen M, Schue A, Dougherty J, Katz P, Saha S, Yelin E. Are We on the Same Page?: A Cross-Sectional Study of Patient-Clinician Goal Concordance in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2021 Sep 27. doi: 10.1002/acr.24794. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34569172
Petkovic J, Umaefulam V, Wattiaux A, Bartels C, Barnabe C, Greer-Smith R, Hofstetter C, Maxwell L, Shea B, Barton J, Lee AYS, Humphreys J, Beaton D, Tugwell P. Development of an extension of the OMERACT Summary of Measurement Properties table to capture equity considerations: SOMP-Equity. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2021 Sep 27:S0049-0172(21)00185-2. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2021.09.005. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34625296
Fraenkel L, Bathon J, England B, St Clair EW, Arayssi T, Carandang K, Deane KD, Genovese M, Huston K, Kerr G, Kremer J, Nakamura M, Russell L, Singh J, Smith B, Sparks J, Venkatachalam S, Weinblatt M, Al-Gibbawi M, Baker JF, Barbour K, Barton J et al. 2021 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2021 Jun 8. Doi: 10.1002/acr.24596. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34101387
Toupin-April K, Décary S, de Wit M, Meara A, Barton JL, et al. Endorsement of the OMERACT core domain set for shared decision making interventions in rheumatology trials: Results from a multi-stepped consensus-building approach. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2021 Apr 6:S0049-0172(21)00049-4. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2021.03.017. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33892937
Matsumoto RA, Barton JL. Telerheumatology: before, during, and after a global pandemic. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2021 May 1;33(3):262-269. doi: 10.1097/BOR.0000000000000790. PMID: 33741808

Eilis Boudreau MD, PhD is a CIVIC Investigator and Professor of Neurology, and Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology at Oregon Health & Sciences University. She is the VA-site PI for a multi-site, HSR&D-funded study comparing the efficacy of different clinical pathways for Veterans referred for sleep apnea care, and for evaluation of the negative predictive value of Home Sleep Apnea testing. She also heads up the VA Portland participation in the VA Enterprise-Wise TeleSleep program designed to improve access and quality of sleep care to rurally located Veterans. Dr. Boudreau's research focuses on improving data capture at the point of clinical care from the Electronic Health Record (EHR), data harmonization across EHR and research studies, with an interest in developing computational phenotypes.

Reducing Cardiovascular and Metabolic Morbidity: Deep Phenotyping of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, a Model for Targeted Treatment for Modifiable Risk Factors (Principal Investigator)

Grant Source: VA Million Veteran Program (MVP) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

Improving Safety in the Medical Certification of Civilian Aviators Through Enhanced Data Capture and Standardization (Co-Principal Investigator)

Grant focus is on reducing civilian aviation accidents by improving data collection and standardization of information about mental health, cognitive, and sleep issues that impact civilian aviators.
Principal Investigator: Eilis Boudreau and A. Wagstaff
Grant Source: University of Oslo, Institute of Health and Society and Institute of Aviation Medicine

Sleep Data Analytics Service Market Research (Co-Investigator)

To work on formative and summative evaluations of VA e-consultation, telehealth and virtual care models related to sleep apnea and insomnia.
Principal Investigator: Totten
Grant ID: VA260-17-P-2475

Improving Access to Sleep Apnea Care: A Pragmatic Study of New Consultation Models (Site Principal Investigator)

The goal of this project is to compare a health care delivery model, Direct Referral for Apnea Monitoring (DREAM), with initial in-person (IP) clinic encounters for Veterans at risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The central hypothesis of the proposed research is that the DREAM clinical pathway can improve Veterans' access to sleep services by reducing wait times for home sleep apnea testing (HSAT) and OSA treatment while maintaining prognostic accuracy that is comparable to IP assessments.
Principal Investigator: K. Sarmiento
Grant Source: VHA Health Services Research and Development Service

Pathway to Partnership in Sleep Telehealth (Site Principal Investigator)

Facilitate implementation of sleep telehealth services at VA Portland Health Care System.
Principal Investigator: K. Sarmiento
Grant Source: VHA Office of Rural Health

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Folmer RL, Boudreau EA, Atwood CW, Smith CJ, Totten AM, Tock JL, Chilakamarri P, Sarmiento KF. Study protocol to assess de-implementation of the initial provider encounter for diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea: the DREAM (Direct Referral for Apnea Monitoring) Project. BMC pulmonary medicine. 2022 Apr 2; 22(1):123
Salinsky M, Evrard C, Joos S, Boudreau E. Utility of mental health and sleep screening questionnaires for patients admitted to a seizure monitoring unit. Epilepsy Behav. 2021 Oct;123:108237. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.108237. Epub 2021 Aug 7. PubMed PMID: 34375800. (epilepsy)
Sarmiento KF, Boudreau EA, Smith CJ, Kaul B, Johnson N, Folmer RL. Effects of computer-based documentation procedures on healthcare workload assessment and resource allocation: An example from VA sleep medicine programs. Federal Practitioner, 2020:35(9):2593-2599.
Folmer RL, Smith CJ, Boudreau EA, Hickock A, Totten AM, Kaul B, Stepnowsky CJ, Whooley MA, Sarmiento KF. Prevalence and Management of Sleep Disorders in the Veterans Health Administration. Sleep Medicine Reviews, July 2020:54:101358.

Kathleen Carlson, MS, PhD is a CIVIC Core Investigator and Professor of Epidemiology at the Oregon Health and Science University - Portland State University (OHSU-PSU) School of Public Health. Dr. Carlson trained in injury epidemiology and health services research and has been conducting VA research since 2006. She participated in the VA Advanced Fellowship in Health Services Research at the Minneapolis VA Healthcare System from 2006-2008 and completed a VA HSR&D Career Development Award from 2010-2015. Dr. Carlson's work focuses on the co-occurrence of physical and psychological trauma among returning Veterans and their post-deployment reintegration into families, work, and community; she is currently examining VA and community health services for Veterans diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their physical and psychosocial. Her research also focuses on the epidemiology, prevention, and control of TBI and other traumatic injurities; firearm-related injuries including self-harm and interpersonal violence; opioid and other medication safety; and the epidemiology of, and clinical services for, tinnitus and other auditory disorders among Veterans. Her OHSU research focuses on injury and violence epidemiology and prevention among Oregonians more broadly. Dr. Carlson also teaches masters- and doctoral-level epidemiology students in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and leads the OHSU-PSU Gun Violence as a Public Health Issue initiative and the OHSU Center for Gun Violence Prevention Research. She serves as Director of the CIVIC Advanced Fellowship program in VA health services research and leads the training and development of fellows in the center.

You can contact Kathleen Carlson by email at Kathleen.Carlson@va.gov.

Preventing Gun Violence Using the Tools of Public Health: Laying the Foundation for an OHSU Gun Violence Prevention Research Center (Principal Investigator)

The goals of this award are to build an evidence base for an OHSU-based research center focused on gun violence prevention, identifying new methods to reduce the rates, and impacts, of firearm injuries in our communities and across the population.
Grant Source: OHSU Faculty Excellence and Innovation Award

Developing and Implementing a Gun Violence Review Commission to Reduce Gun Injury and Death in Multnomah County (Principal Investigator)

The overarching aim of this project is to establish a Gun Violence Review Commission in Multnomah County and build the infrastructure to support and sustain its work.

Implementation and Effectiveness of Healing Hurt People-Portland: A Community Violence Prevention Pilot Project (Principal Investigator)

The aim of this pilot project is to establish the foundation for a future state- or federally-funded implementation-effectiveness research study to evaluate the effects of hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) on the reduction of violence in Oregon.

Use of Data Linkage and Natural Language Processing to Improve Suicide Risk Prediction among Firearm Injury Patients: Expansion of the Oregon FASTER Project (Principal Investigator)

The goal of this project is to develop and apply natural language processing (NLP) models to Oregon ESSENCE data to improve the classification of firearm injury intent in emergency department records.

Prevention of Firearm Injuries among Rural Veterans in the US (Principal Investigator)

Grant ID: VRHRC 0160RH

Community Care Utilization among Post-9/11 Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury (Principal Investigator)

Grant ID: HSR&D I01 HX003088

Pharmacologic and Nonpharmacologic Treatments of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Co-Investigator)

The overarching purpose of this project is to provide updates and expansions to a large, systematic review database of published randomized controlled trials on pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Principal Investigator: Maya O'Neil
Grant ID: RFTO#22

Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC): Longitudinal Study (Site Principal Investigator)

The overall goal of LIMBIC is to identify and longitudinally follow Veterans with TBI to examine prevalence of, and risk factors for, decline over time consistent with neurodegeneration.
Principal Investigator: Walker; Cifu
Grant ID: CSR&D I01 CX-002097-001

Firearm Injury Surveillance through Emergency Rooms (FASTER) (Site Principal Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Laura Chisholm
Grant ID: CDC/NCIPC NU17CE010029

Long-term Effects of Noise and Other Explosures on Audtory Functioning in Post-9/11 Veterans: NOISE Study 3.0 (Co-Investigator)

The purpose of this continuation study would allow the team to continue to collect data on the long-term effects of military and non-military exposures on auditory function, gathering up to 11 years of longitudinal data on the currently enrolled cohort of study participants. Continued funding would provide the unique opportunity to obtain evidence on whether military noise exposures can result in delayed-onset hearing loss and/or tinnitus in Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Henry
Grant ID: RX003701

Suicide Prevention Trials Database (Co-Investigator)

Advancing Suicide Prevention for Female Veterans (Co-Investigator)

Effects of Military Noise Exposure on Auditory Function in Service Members and Recently Discharged Veterans (Co-Investigator)

This proposal serves as a continuation to study # PR121146. The objective of this longitudinal epidemiologic study is to estimate and describe the prevalence, etiology, and effects of early-onset tinnitus and hearing loss among newly-discharged military Veterans.
Principal Investigator: James Henry
Grant ID: JW160036

Improving Access to Supported Employment for Veterans with Polytrauma/Traumatic Brain Injury (Co-Investigator)

The purpose of this study is to increase access to Supported Employment (SE) among OEF/OIF/OND Veterans with polytrauma/traumatic brain injury by identifying actionable barriers and facilitators to SE referral, developing and implementing a customizable intervention package, and conducting preliminary assessment of its effectiveness at local VA sites that are below SE capacity.
Principal Investigator: Terri K Pogoda
Grant ID: I01 HX002162-01A1

Understanding Impact of VHA's New Suicidal Ideation Screening Initiative: Veteran's Perspective (Co-Investigator)

This project evaluates the effectiveness of VA’s newly implemented suicide screening program, Risk-ID.
Principal Investigator: Steven Dobscha
Grant ID: HSR&D I01 HX002987/19-215

Telephone Delivery of Cognitively Augmented Behavioral Activation (CABA) for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) (Co-Investigator)

The major goals of this study are to develop an accessible, acceptable, and efficacious telephone intervention that can be broadly disseminated to address the complex rehabilitation needs within the population of Veterans with a history of TBI, to reduce negative cognitive and psychiatric health outcomes for Veterans with a history of TBI, and to promote personal resilience.
Principal Investigator: Megan Callahan
Grant ID: DoD CDMRP IIR W81XWH1910747

Spatiotemporal Clustering of Rural Veteran Suicides (Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Lauren Denneson, MS, PhD
Grant ID: VRHRC 15526RH

FITBIR: Accelerating Synthesis of TBI Research Using Novel Methods (FAST RUN Methods) (Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Maya O'Neil
Grant ID: DoD/CDMRP W81XWH2010564

Improving Suicide Prediction Using NLP-Extracted Social Determinants of Health (Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Hong Yu
Grant ID: NIH/NIMH R01MH125027

VA-DoD Long-term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC): Phenotypes of Persistent Comorbidity in Post-9/11 Era Veterans with mTBI (Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Mary Jo Pugh
Grant ID: RR&D I01 RX003443-01

Effects of Military Noise Exposure on Auditory Function in Service Members and Recent Veterans (Co-Investigator)

The primary goal of the NOISE Study is to estimate and describe the prevalence, etiology, and effects of tinnitus and hearing loss among Military Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Reavis
Grant ID: JW160036

Increasing Social Connection through Crisis Caring Contacts: A Pragmatic Trial (Co-Investigator)

This pragmatic randomized controlled trial will evaluate the effectiveness of crisis caring contacts in decreasing loneliness, evaluate the effect of crisis caring contacts on other important outcomes including treatment engagement and suicidal ideation, explore moderators of treatment response to crisis caring contacts, and explore the effect of crisis caring contacts on all-cause mortality, suicide attempts, and drug overdoses.
Principal Investigator: Alan Teo
Grant ID: I01 HX003428 IIR

A pilot trial of health coaching to improve functioning and reduce suicide risk among reintegrating Veterans (Co-Investigator)

Patient Health Experiences: Using Patient Narratives to Improve Tinnitus Rehabilitation Services and Outcomes (Co-Investigator)

The long-term goal of this research is to improve functioning and quality of life outcomes among Veterans with tinnitus by increasing access to, and uptake of, evidence-based tinnitus rehabilitation strategies.
Principal Investigator: Clark
Grant ID: I21 RX003888

Auditory Rehabilitation Needs in COVID-19 Survivors (Co-Investigator)

This mixed-methods project will survey and then interview a sample of Veterans with a history of COVID-19, and comparable Veterans without a history of COVID-19, to examine auditory dysfunction and rehabilitation needs.
Principal Investigator: Reavis
Grant ID: I21RX003888 SPiRE

Rural Veterans' Access to Hearing Healthcare (Mentor/Co-Investigator)

This mixed-methods project aims to examine need for, and access to, audiology services among rural-residing US military Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Laura Coco
Grant ID: PROJFY-008918

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Carlson KF, Gilbert TA, DeFrancesco S, Wright DA, Shen X, Cook LJ. Accuracy of behavioral health variables in Oregon national violent death reporting system data: a linked cohort study. Injury epidemiology. 2022 Sep 13; 9(1):29
Henry JA, Carlson KF, Theodoroff S, Folmer RL. Reevaluating the Use of Sound Therapy for Tinnitus Management: Perspectives on Relevant Systematic Reviews. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : Jslhr. 2022 Jun 8; 65(6):2327-2342
Ku JH, Henkle E, Carlson KF, Marino M, Brode SK, Marras TK, Winthrop KL. Evaluation of Mycobacterium avium complex pulmonary disease treatment completion and adherence to ATS/IDSA guidelines. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. 2022 May 24
Lewis MS, Reavis KM, Griest S, Carlson KF, Gordon J, Henry JA. The influence of tinnitus and hearing loss on the functional status of military Service members and Veterans. International journal of audiology. 2022 Jul 12; 1-9
O'Neil ME, Klyce DW, Pogoda TK, Cifu DX, Eggleston BE, Cameron DC, Wilde EA, Walker WC, Carlson KF. Associations Among PTSD and Postconcussive Symptoms in the Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium-Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium Prospective, Longitudinal Study Cohort. The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation. 2021 Nov 1; 36(6):E363-E372

Jason I. Chen, PhD is a CIVIC Core Investigator, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Chair of the Curriculum Committee for the Clinical Psychology PhD Program at OHSU. He received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Florida in 2016 where he focused on mechanisms of suicide risk and the implementation and dissemination of suicide prevention programming. Dr. Chen completed his APA accredited internship at the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System and a postdoctoral fellowship in health services research at CIVIC. Dr. Chen is currently funded on a 5-year, VA HSR&D Career Development Award titled, "Enhancing Social Connectedness Among Veterans at High Risk for Suicide through Community Engagement," (CDA 18-185; IK2HX002787). His research lab, the Connecting Communities for Suicide Prevention Lab (CCSP), studies suicide prevention for high-risk populations, with a focus on military veterans, community-based approaches, and help-seeking processes. Dr. Chen also collaborates with the OHSU Media Team and Suicide Prevention Program Managers to provide technical support and training for the OHSU community.

You can contact Jason Chen by email at Jason.Chen1@va.gov.

Enhancing Social Connectedness Among Veterans at High Risk for Suicide through Community Engagement (Principal Investigator)

The current project proposes to develop and pilot a multicomponent, peer-support facilitated intervention for increasing social connectedness through participation in community activities among Veterans at elevated risk of death by suicide via the following research aims: 1) Identify Veterans’ current behaviors, needs, and preferences for community engagement following psychiatric hospitalization, 2) Identify VHA staff and community stakeholder perceptions and perceived needs related to Veteran community engagement following psychiatric hospitalization, and 3) Develop and pilot a multicomponent, peer-support facilitated intervention for increasing social connectedness among Veterans at elevated risk of death by suicide. Expected outcomes from these aims include clinical toolkits for VA and community stakeholders, academic manuscripts and presentations, and two HSR&D IIR submissions over the course of the CDA award period.
Grant ID:1IK2HX002787-01/CDA 18-185

Extending the Safety Net: Reaching Veterans at High Risk for Suicide Who Disengage from Care (Principal Investigator)

Planning grant for projects addressing current Veteran suicide prevention priorities to support the development of high impact grant proposals for decreasing Veteran suicide.
Grant ID: HSR&D SPRINT

Social Networks and Suicide Contagion among High Risk Oregon Counties (Principal Investigator)

The goal of this grant is to provide supplemental funds to supporting additional data collection for existing projects to improve our understanding of mechanisms and processes of suicide risk.
Grant Source: N.L. Tartar Trust Fellowship

A Pilot Trial of Health Coaching to Improve Functioning and Reduce Suicide Risk among Reintegrating Veterans (Co-Investigator)

Major goal: Complete a preliminary efficacy trial of health coaching as an upstream suicide intervention for recently separated Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Lauren Denneson
Grant ID: 1I01RX003704-01A2

Spatiotemporal Clustering of Rural Veteran Suicides (Co-Investigator)

This mixed-methods project aims to examine the spatiotemporal community factors associated with suicide clusters among Veterans in rural areas nationally, towards developing prevention efforts tailored for high-risk rural communities.
Principal Investigator: Lauren Denneson
Grant ID: VRHRC-PDX-FY21-3

VA Long Term Outcomes from COVID Study (Co-Investigator)

The goal of this collaborative project is to evaluate the long-term physical health, mental health, and health utilizations impacts among Veterans who have recovered from COVID-19.
Principal Investigator: Hynes
Grant ID: C19 21-279

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Chen JI, Hickok A, O AC, Niederhausen M, Laliberte AZ, Govier DJ, Edwards ST, Gordon HS, Slatore CG, Weaver FM, Young R, Hynes DM. Psychiatric disorders newly diagnosed among veterans subsequent to hospitalization for COVID-19. Psychiatry Research. 2022 Jun 1; 312:114570
Chen JI, Ono SS, Laliberte AZ, Roth B, Dobscha SK, Center To Improve Veteran Involvement In Care Veteran Engagement Group (VEG). Veteran community engagement and social connection needs following inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. 2022 Aug 1
Choi J, Chen JI. Examining the relationship between screen time and achievement motivation in an adolescent population. Journal of Emerging Investigators. 2022 Jun 13; 5:1-7
Hjelvik A, Eldridge A, Furnari M, Hoeflich H, Chen JI, Roth B, Black W. A Peer-to-Peer Suicide Prevention Workshop for Medical Students. MedEdPORTAL : the journal of teaching and learning resources. 2022 Apr 19; 18:11241
Nugent SM, Morasco BJ, Handley R, Clayburgh D, Hooker ER, Ganzini L, Knight SJ, Chen JI, Sullivan DR, Slatore CG. Risk of Suicidal Self-directed Violence Among US Veteran Survivors of Head and Neck Cancer. JAMA otolaryngology-- head & neck surgery. 2021 Nov 1; 147(11):981-989

Samuel Edwards, MD, MPH is a primary care physician, general internist, and health services researcher at the Portland Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Dr. Edwards’s research focuses on the role and function of primary care in health systems, with a focus on the care for high needs individuals through Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC). His Career Development Award uses mixed methods to explore what features of HBPC drive its success in reducing hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions, and uses these insights to develop an intervention to promote best practices in HBPC.
Dr. Edwards received his medical degree from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, received his training in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and completed fellowship in General Medicine and Primary Care at Harvard Medical School, VA Boston Healthcare System and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

You can contact Samuel Edwards by email at Samuel Edwards@va.gov.

Optimizing Outcomes in Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC) (Principal Investigator)

This project uses mixed methods to explore what features of HBPC drive its success in reducing hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions, and will use these insights to develop an intervention to promote best practices in HBPC.
Grant ID: CDA 16-152

Mixed Methods Evaluation of the RELATE Lab (Co-Principal Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Samuel Edwards and Anais Tuepker
Grant Source: Morris-Singer Foundation

Whole health coaching pilot for rural-residing Veterans with multiple chronic conditions (Co-Investigator)

In this project we are performing qualitative interviews with rural residing Veterans with chronic conditions to understand their health needs and we are developing a pilot whole health coaching intervention.
Principal Investigators: Coultas, Hulen
Grant ID: PROJ-03627

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Balasubramanian BA, Lindner S, Marino M, Springer R, Edwards ST, McConnell KJ, Cohen DJ. Improving Delivery of Cardiovascular Disease Preventive Services in Small-to-Medium Primary Care Practices. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM. 2022 Sep 12
Chen JI, Hickok A, O AC, Niederhausen M, Laliberte AZ, Govier DJ, Edwards ST, Gordon HS, Slatore CG, Weaver FM, Young R, Hynes DM. Psychiatric disorders newly diagnosed among veterans subsequent to hospitalization for COVID-19. Psychiatry Research. 2022 Jun 1; 312:114570
Edwards ST, Greene L, Chaudhary C, Boothroyd D, Kinosian B, Zulman DM. Outpatient Care Fragmentation and Acute Care Utilization in Veterans Affairs Home-Based Primary Care. JAMA Network Open. 2022 Sep 1; 5(9):e2230036
Hemler JR, Edwards ST, Valenzuela S, Baron A, Hall JD, Perry CK, Balasubramanian BA, Damschroder L, Solberg LI, Crabtree BF, Cohen DJ. The Effects of Major Disruptions on Practice Participation in Facilitation During a Primary Care Quality Improvement Initiative. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM. 2022 Jan 1; 35(1):124-139
Hulen E, Lafferty M, Laliberte A, Saha S, Edwards ST. Balancing the benefits of patient-clinician relationships with professional boundaries in Home-based Primary Care. Home health care services quarterly. 2022 Mar 29; 41(4):330-340

Robert Folmer, Ph.D. is a CIVIC Investigator and Professor of Otolaryngology at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Dr. Folmer is also a Research Investigator at the RR&D National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research (NCRAR) at VA Portland. He is Program Manager for a VA Enterprise-Wide Initiative (EWI) called TeleSleep that is funded by the Office of Rural Health (ORH). The goal of the TeleSleep Program, which includes 14 Hub sites and more than 50 Spoke sites nationwide, is to improve the quality of and Veterans’ access to VA Sleep Medicine Services by using advanced telehealth strategies. The group is also conducting a multi-site, HSR&D-funded study that compares the efficacy of different clinical pathways for Veterans who are referred for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). At OHSU, Dr. Folmer was the Chief of Clinical Services for the Tinnitus Clinic from 1998-2007 and was also part of the team that developed the Dangerous Decibels hearing loss prevention education program. He joined the NCRAR in 2007 and served as Program Manager for a joint VA/Department of Defense Hearing Loss Prevention Initiative. His research interests include transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for treatment of tinnitus, depression and PTSD; electrophysiological assessment of auditory and cognitive processing in patients who experience neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, multiple sclerosis, or traumatic brain injury. Dr. Folmer’s team is currently conducting clinical trials of 2 different drugs for treatment of chronic tinnitus: etanercept and ketamine.

You can contact Robert Folmer by email at Robert.Folmer@va.gov.

Validation and Expansion of Established Norms for Measures of Tinnitus Perception (Principal Investigator)

This project aims to automate and standardize measures of patients’ tinnitus perception.
Grant ID: 2I01RX001205-05A2

Treatment of Hearing Loss, Hyperacusis and Tinnitus with Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) Blocker Etanercept (Study Site Principal Investigator)

This is a multi-site trial examining the therapeutic effects of the medication Etanercept (Enbrel) to alleviate tinnitus. At the VA RR&D NCRAR site, we will conduct a placebo-controlled clinical trial of Etanercept compared to a placebo to determine its effectiveness in reducing the perception or severity of blast-induced or noise-induced tinnitus.
Principal Investigator: Jinsheng Zhang, PhD
Grant Source: DoD CDMRP Clinical Trial Award PR172190

Investigation of the NMDA Antagonist Ketamine as a Treatment for Tinnitus (Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Diana Martinez, MD
Grant Source: DoD CDMRP Clinical Trial Award

Improving Access to Sleep Apnea Care: A Pragmatic Study of New Consultation Models (Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Kathleen Sarmiento, MD
Grant Source: VA HSR&D

Reducing Cardiovascular and Metabolic Morbidity: Deep Phenotyping of a Major Modifiable Risk Factor - Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Co-Investigator)

The primary goal of this project is to improve cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes in Veterans by applying natural language processing (NLP), structured data analytics, and clustering approaches to comprehensively phenotype Veterans suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).
Principal Investigator: Eilis Boudreau
Grant Source: VA Million Veteran Program (MVP) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Folmer RL, Boudreau EA, Atwood CW, Smith CJ, Totten AM, Tock JL, Chilakamarri P, Sarmiento KF. Study protocol to assess de-implementation of the initial provider encounter for diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea: the DREAM (Direct Referral for Apnea Monitoring) Project. BMC pulmonary medicine. 2022 Apr 2; 22(1):123
Henry JA, Carlson KF, Theodoroff S, Folmer RL. Reevaluating the Use of Sound Therapy for Tinnitus Management: Perspectives on Relevant Systematic Reviews. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : Jslhr. 2022 Jun 8; 65(6):2327-2342
Chang YHA, Folmer RL, Shasha B, Shea JA, Sarmiento KF, Stepnowsky CJ, Lim D, Pack A, Kuna ST. Barriers and Facilitators to Implementation of a Novel Web-based Sleep Apnea Management Platform. Sleep Nov 20:zsaa243. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsaa243. Online ahead of print
Sarmiento KF, Boudreau EA, Smith CJ, Kaul B, Johnson N, Folmer RL. Effects of computer-based documentation procedures on healthcare workload assessment and resource allocation: An example from VA sleep medicine programs. Federal Practitioner 2020;37(8):368-374
Folmer RL, Smith CJ, Boudreau EA, Hickock A, Totten AM, Kaul B, Stepnowsky CJ, Whooley MA, Sarmiento KF. Prevalence and Management of Sleep Disorders in the Veterans Health Administration. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 2020 Jul 20;54:101358. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2020.101358. Online ahead of print

Mark Helfand, MD, MS, MPH is Professor of Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and practices hospital medicine at the Portland VA Medical Center. He directs the VA Evidence-Based Synthesis Program Coordinating Center, and the AHRQ Scientific Resource Center for the Effective Health Care Program. He is a founding member of the steering committee of the Health Experiences Research Network, the US branch of Dipex International.

Dr. Helfand has served on the Methodology Committee of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute since 2011 and was Editor-in-chief of Medical Decision Making from 2005 to 2012. Dr. Helfand received a BA and BS from Stanford University, an MD and MPH from University of Illinois Medical School, and an MS in health services research from Stanford University.

You can contact Mark Helfand by email at Mark.Helfand@va.gov.

Scientific Resource Center III (Investigator)

The Scientific Resource Center (SRC) supports the activities of the Effective Health Care Program in a variety of ways, including scientific and technical support to protect scientific credibility and independence of Effective Health Care Program products; Coordinating peer review for comparative effectiveness reviews and other products; supporting of the work of reviews and other research projects by supplying trusted methods for conducting the research itself and by maintaining the Methods Guide for Conducting Comparative Effectiveness Reviews; and Technical support for topic nomination development and selection processes.
Principal Investigator: Mark Helfand
Grant ID: AHRQ HHSA 29020120004C

Evidence-based Synthesis Program Coordinating Center (Principal Co-Investigator)

The ESPCC was created to expand the capacity of Health Services Research and Development Service (HSR&D) and is charged with oversight of national ESP program operations, program development and evaluation, and dissemination efforts. Specifically, the ESPCC establishes standard operating procedures for the production of evidence synthesis reports; facilitates a national topic nomination, prioritization and selection process; facilitates editorial review processes; ensures methodological consistency and quality of products; produces “rapid response evidence briefs” at the request of VHA senior leadership; collaborates with HSR&D Center for Information Dissemination and Education Resources (CIDER) to develop a national dissemination strategy for all ESP products; and interfaces with stakeholders.
Principal Investigator: Mark Helfand and Katherine Mackey
Grant ID: ESP 09-199

Listening to Gulf War Vets: A qualitative Inquiry into the Health Experience and Treatment of those with Chronic Multisymptom Illness (Principal Investigator)

The first comprehensive qualitative study of the health experiences of Gulf War era veterans will yield significant insight into the features of effective care models and treatments, as well as satisfaction with care. It will also create a rich, ongoing resource that can inform VA’s efforts to improve customer service and care for these veterans, identify better illness-specific health measures and promising therapeutic approaches, and activate veterans to be more engaged with the health system.
Grant ID: SDR 17-151

DIPEx and Implementing a Framework as a Model for Future Research (Multiple PI)

This model and a long-term implementation plan to enhance the impact of HER on the selection, design confuct of HSR&D and RR&D research were incorporated into HSR&D’s overall plan for promoting Veteran engagement, as described in the 2015 report of HSR&D’s Veteran Engagement Work Group (VEWG). Although completing the first DIPEx module on TBI was an essential first step, “success” in implementing the conceptual model will not be achieved until researchers learn to integrate HER into the process of developing, designing, conducting, and disseminating VA research. This project will develop and implement a dissemination framework that can be used as a model for future VA HER modules.
Principal Investigator: Mark Helfand, Erika Cottrell
Grant Type: SWIFT

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Helfand M, Fiordalisi C, Wiedrick J, Ramsey KL, Armstrong C, Gean E, Winchell K, Arkhipova-Jenkins I. Risk for Reinfection After SARS-CoV-2: A Living, Rapid Review for American College of Physicians Practice Points on the Role of the Antibody Response in Conferring Immunity Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Annals of internal medicine. 2022 Apr 1; 175(4):547-555
Mayo-Wilson E, Phillips ML, Connor AE, Vander Ley KJ, Naaman K, Helfand M. Peer review reduces spin in PCORI research reports. Research integrity and peer review. 2021 Dec 1; 6(1):16
Veazie S, Peterson K, Ansari Y, Chung KA, Gibbons CH, Raj SR, Helfand M. Fludrocortisone for Orthostatic Hypotension. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 May;5(5): PMID: 34000076
Hassan MH, Chang SM, Fiordalisi CV, Lin JS, Wilt TJ, Tsou AY, Leas B, Siddique S, Zullo A, Balk EM, Rutter CM, Robinson K. Coleman C, Costa O, Helfand M, Stoeger E, Viswanathan M. Improving the utility of evidence synthesis for decisionmakers in the face of insufficient evidence. J Clin Epidemiol 2021 Mar: PMID: 33753229
Harris RP, Helfand M, Woolf SH, Lohr KN, Mulrow CD, Teutsch SM, Atkins D, Methods Work Group, Third U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. REPRINT OF: Current methods of the U.S. preventive services task force: a review of the process. Am J Prev Med 2020 Mar;58(3):316-331 PMID: 32087860

Denise Hynes, MPH, PhD, RN has been a Research Scientist in the US Department of Veterans Affairs since 1991 and joined CIVIC as a Core Investigator in 2018. She is an experienced nurse, health services researcher, and data scientist. Her research focuses on innovative approaches to improve healthcare quality and access. Her service focuses on database and informatics methods to support research and evaluation of healthcare interventions.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Loyola University of Chicago, Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, and her Doctoral degree (PhD) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health. She completed postdoctoral training at the Cecil B. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at Drexel University through the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership for Academic Medicine (ELAM) in 2014. She served as tenure track faculty at Duke University, Loyola University Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Hynes also holds an appointment at Oregon State University as Professor in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences and as the Director of the new Health Data & Informatics (HDI) Center in the Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing.
Dr. Hynes serves as a primary mentor to Diana Govier, MPH, PhD, one of CIVIC's post-doctoral fellows.

You can contact Denise Hynes by email at Denise.Hynes@va.gov or hynesd@oregonstate.edu.

Care Coordination and Outcomes for High Risk Patients: Building the Evidence for Implementation (Principal Investigator)

Examine impacts of care coordination services on mortality, health care use, and costs using electronic health record data; prospectively evaluate patient perceptions of care integration and provider perceptions about what is working well.
Grant ID: HX-20-001

Care Coordination and Outcomes in the VA Expanded Choice Program (Principal Investigator)

To partner with the VA Office of Community Care to plan and evaluate the expanded VA Community care program. We are evaluating care coordination processes and quality of care under the expanded Choice; role of health information exchange and quality governance.
Grant ID: In response to HX-18-008

VA COVID-19 Observational Research Collaborative (CORC) (Multiple Principal Investigators)

Evaluate long term outcomes of COVID illness in an observational study emulating a clinical trial and using electronic health records and surveys’ of Veterans who receive VA healthcare.
Principal Investigators: Iaonnou, Iwashyna, Hynes, Boyko, O'Hare, Maciejewski, Bohnert, Bowling
Grant ID:C19-21-278

VA COVID-19 Observational Research Collaborative (CORC) Long-term Outcomes Study (Multiple Principal Investigators)

Veterans Decision-making about VA Community Care Under the Choice Program: Should I Stay or Should I go? (MPI/Co-Principal Investigator)

This research innovation grant supports development of research related to Veterans decision making with the VA community care reorganization due to the Choice and MISSION Act changes.
Principal Investigator: Christopher Slatore / Denise Hynes
Grant ID: VA HSR&D RIVR 19-481

Incorporating Primary VA Data Analysis into Evidence Synthesis Program (ESP) Reviews Pilot (Co-Investigator / Pilot Lead)

This pilot supports 1-2 analyses alongside evidence reviews and development of a framework for operationalizing future add-on analyses, including: the process for determining the scope of the analysis plan including datasets and inclusion/exclusion criteria; the extent to which extant administrative and or research data can be useful; results reporting; and potential for publication of results.
Principal Investigator: Mark Helfand
Grant ID: ESP-09-199

Community Care Utilization among Post 9-11 Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury (Co-Investigator)

The aims of this research are to: 1) Examine demographics, health characteristics, and healthcare utilization of post-9/11 Veterans with TBI who are, versus are not, using VA Community Care programs; 2) Compare health and functioning between Veterans with TBI who receive VA care exclusively versus those who receive VA-paid Community Care; and 3) Describe processes leading to successful and unsuccessful care coordination between VA, its TBI/PSC, and Community Care providers.
Principal Investigator: Kathleen Carlson
Grant ID: IIR I01 HX003088

Quantifying Disease Burden (Co-Investigator)

Develop methods to quantify disease burden among Veterans using both CDW and National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data.
Principal Investigator: Yano and Hoggatt
Grant ID: VA HSR&D IIR

Community Care Research Evaluation and Knowledge Center (CREEK) (Multiple PI and Implementation Research Hub co-Lead)

Multi-site research support center to foster collaboration and knowledge diffusion in Community Care research between VA investigators and the VA Office of Community Care (OCC) leadership.
Principal Investigators: Mattocks, Mengeling, Rosen, Vanneman, Hynes
Grant ID: SDR 20-390

Improving Care Coordination for Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) to Enhance Health and Quality of Life (Co-Investigator)

Evaluate the effectiveness of a care coordination intervention at selected sites in North Carolina aimed at improving health and quality of life of emerging adults with IDD.
Principal Investigator: Thomas
Grant ID: PCORI-22459

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Chen JI, Hickok A, O AC, Niederhausen M, Laliberte AZ, Govier DJ, Edwards ST, Gordon HS, Slatore CG, Weaver FM, Young R, Hynes DM. Psychiatric disorders newly diagnosed among veterans subsequent to hospitalization for COVID-19. Psychiatry Research. 2022 Jun 1; 312:114570
Ioannou GN, Baraff A, Fox A, Shahoumian T, Hickok A, O'Hare AM, Bohnert ASB, Boyko EJ, Maciejewski ML, Bowling CB, Viglianti E, Iwashyna TJ, Hynes DM. Rates and Factors Associated With Documentation of Diagnostic Codes for Long COVID in the National Veterans Affairs Health Care System. JAMA Network Open. 2022 Jul 1; 5(7):e2224359
Ioannou GN, Ferguson JM, O'Hare AM, Bohnert ASB, Backus LI, Boyko EJ, Osborne TF, Maciejewski ML, Bowling CB, Hynes DM, Iwashyna TJ, Saysana M, Green P, Berry K. Changes in the associations of race and rurality with SARS-CoV-2 infection, mortality, and case fatality in the United States from February 2020 to March 2021: A population-based cohort study. PLoS Medicine. 2021 Oct 1; 18(10):e1003807
Ioannou GN, Locke ER, O'Hare AM, Bohnert ASB, Boyko EJ, Hynes DM, Berry K. COVID-19 Vaccination Effectiveness Against Infection or Death in a National U.S. Health Care System : A Target Trial Emulation Study. Annals of internal medicine. 2022 Mar 1; 175(3):352-361
Layton BA, Kaya D, Kelly C, Williamson KJ, Alegre D, Bachhuber SM, Banwarth PG, Bethel JW, Carter K, Dalziel BD, Dasenko M, Geniza M, George A, Girard AM, Haggerty R, Higley KA, Hynes DM, Lubchenco J, McLaughlin KR, Nieto FJ, Noakes A, Peterson M, Piemonti AD, Sanders JL, Tyler BM, Radniecki TS. Evaluation of a Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Approach to Estimate the Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infections and the Detection of Viral Variants in Disparate Oregon Communities at City and Neighborhood Scales. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2022 Jun 1; 130(6):67010

Devan Kansagara, MD, MCR is Professor of Medicine and Associate Professor of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology at Oregon Health and Science University. He practices internal medicine in the VA Portland Health Care System. One of his areas of interest is evidence based medicine, and the use of evidence to guide health policy. Dr Kansagara directs the Portland Evidence-based Synthesis Program, one of four sites nationally responsible for developing evidence syntheses to help guide VA policy. He is currently the Vice Chair of the American College of Physicians Clinical Guidelines Committee, and also works on health policy for the Oregon Health Authority. Dr Kansagara's other main area of interest is health systems redesign. In particular, he has done intervention and implementation work with hospital to home care transitions and the patient centered medical home. Dr Kansagara completed his BA in English at Amherst College. He received an MD from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, and completed residency training at Yale University. He received his Masters in Clinical Research from Oregon Health and Science University.
Dr. Kansagara serves as a primary mentor to Haley Holmer, MPH, PhD, one of CIVIC's post-doctoral fellows.

You can contact Devan Kansagara by email at Devan.Kansagara@va.gov or kansagar@ohsu.edu.

Systematically Testing the Evidence on Marijuana (STEM) (Principal Investigator)

The goal of this project is to develop a continually updated and systematically assessed web resource for information about the health effects of cannabis for providers, patients, and researchers.
Grant ID: ORH-VRHRC-PDX-FY20-7

VA Evidence-based Synthesis Program Data Analysis Alongside Evidence Synthesis Project (Principal Investigator)

The major goals of this project are to conduct demonstration projects and develop novel methods to use analysis of health system data to improve the translation of published evidence to practice.
Grant ID: ESP 05-225

ACP Guideline Review Program (Principal Investigator)

In this project we will conduct systematic reviews that will be used by the ACP to develop clinical guidelines. The first year will focus on management of osteoporosis.
Grant Source: American College of Physicians

Living Systematic Review on Plant-based Treatment for Chronic Pain (Co-Investigator)

The goal of this project is to develop innovative methods for identifying and disseminating up to date information about the use of plant-based treatments such as cannabis for chronic pain.
Principal Investigator: McDonagh
Grant Source: AHRQ

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Kondo KK, Williams BE, Ayers CK, Kansagara D, Smith M, Advani SM, Young S, Saha S. Factors Associated with Health Inequalities in Infectious Disease Pandemics Predating COVID-19 in the United States: A Systematic Review. Health equity. 2022 Mar 24; 6(1):254-269. PMID: 35402773
McDonagh MS, Morasco BJ, Wagner J, Ahmed AY, Fu R, Kansagara D, Chou R. Cannabis-Based Products for Chronic Pain : A Systematic Review. Annals of internal medicine. 2022 Aug 1; 175(8):1143-1153. PMID: 35667066
Mederos MA, Jacob RL, Ward R, Shenoy R, Gibbons MM, Girgis MD, Kansagara D, Hynes D, Shekelle PG, Kondo K. Trends in Robot-Assisted Procedures for General Surgery in the Veterans Health Administration. The Journal of surgical research. 2022 Nov 1; 279:788-795. PMID: 35970011
Qaseem A, Yost J, Etxeandia-Ikobaltzeta I, Forciea MA, Abraham GM, Miller MC, Obley AJ, Humphrey LL, Scientific Medical Policy Committee of the American College of Physicians*, Akl EA, Andrews R, Dunn A, Haeme R, Kansagara DL, Tschanz MP, Scientific Medical Policy Committee of the American College of Physicians. What Is the Antibody Response and Role in Conferring Natural Immunity After SARS-CoV-2 Infection? Rapid, Living Practice Points From the American College of Physicians (Version 2). Annals of internal medicine. 2022 Apr 1; 175(4):556-565. PMID: 35073153
Shenoy R, Mederos MA, Jacob RL, Kondo KK, DeVirgilio M, Ward R, Kansagara D, Shekelle PG, Maggard-Gibbons M, Girgis MD, Hynes DM. Robot-Assisted General Surgery Procedures at the Veterans Health Administration: A Comparison of Surgical Techniques. The Journal of surgical research. 2022 Nov 1; 279:330-337. PMID: 35810550

Travis Lovejoy, PhD, MPH is a clinical psychologist with specialized training in quantitative methodologies, health psychology, behavioral medicine, and substance use disorders. Dr. Lovejoy’s research interests include the scientific development, testing, and implementation of theory-based clinical and health services interventions that improve individual and population health. He is currently in the 4^th year of a 5-year VA HSR&D-funded Career Development Award that examines novel treatment approaches for chronic pain in veterans with co-occurring substance use disorders. Additional VA-funded research examines patient outcomes following discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy. Dr. Lovejoy’s research approaches include large retrospective administrative database studies, prospective cohort studies, clinical and health services efficacy and effectiveness trials, and mixed methods approaches to study the implementation of evidence-based practices. Dr. Lovejoy is the Lead of the CIVIC Implementation Science Core and Executive Committee Member of the Oregon Health & Science University Dissemination & Implementation Research Collaborative.

You can contact Travis Lovejoy by email at Travis.Lovejoy@va.gov.

Tele-Collaborative Outreach to Rural Patients with Chronic Pain: The CORPs Trial (Principal Investigator)

The major goals of this pragmatic effectiveness trial are to determine if a telehealth intervention can improve pain and quality of life outcomes, while increasing use of non pharmacologic pain treatments, in rural veterans with chronic pain.
Grant ID: UG3 AT012257

Collaborative telepain care for rural Veterans (Principal Investigator)

The goal of this pilot intervention trial is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a nurse care manager-led pain care coordination intervention delivered via telehealth to improve clinical outcomes in patients with co-occurring chronic pain and substance use disorders.
Grant ID: VA ORH, ORH-15531

Chronic Pain Management and Patient-Centered Outcomes Following Discontinuation of Long-Term Opioid Therapy (Principal Investigator)

NIDA CTN-101: the STOP intervention trial (Site Principal Investigator)

This multisite randomized controlled trial tests the efficacy of a collaborative care intervention to reduce opioid misuse among primary care patients.
Principal Investigator: McNeely and Liebschutz
Grant ID: NIDA CTN-101

NIDA CTN-101: the Co-Care intervention trial (Site Principal Investigator)

Enhancing sexual safety: couples' communication and HIV testing with YMSM (Co-Investigator)

To evaluate dyadic communication and HIV prevention among adolescent men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) couples.
Principal Investigator: Tyrel Starks and Sarah Feldstein Ewing
Grant ID: U19HD089875-03S1

Impact of Prescription Opioid Dose Changes on Cannabis Use and Clinical Outcomes (Co-Investigator)

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Kenzie ES, Patzel M, Nelson E, Lovejoy T, Ono S, Davis MM. Long drives and red tape: mapping rural veteran access to primary care using causal-loop diagramming. BMC health services research. 2022 Aug 23; 22(1):1075. PMID: 35999540
Morasco BJ, Adams MH, Hooker ER, Maloy PE, Krebs EE, Lovejoy TI, Saha S, Dobscha SK. A Cluster-Randomized Clinical Trial to Decrease Prescription Opioid Misuse: Improving the Safety of Opioid Therapy (ISOT). Journal of general internal medicine. 2022 Nov 1; 37(15):3805-3813. PMID: 35296983
Nugent SM, Lovejoy TI, Shull S, Dobscha SK, Morasco BJ. Associations of Pain Numeric Rating Scale Scores Collected during Usual Care with Research Administered Patient Reported Pain Outcomes. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.). 2021 Oct 8; 22(10):2235-2241. PMID: 33749760
Priest KC, King CA, Englander H, Lovejoy TI, McCarty D. Differences in the delivery of medications for opioid use disorder during hospitalization by racial categories: A retrospective cohort analysis. Substance Abuse. 2022 Jan 1; 43(1):1251-1259. PMID: 35670778
Somohano VC, Kaplan J, Newman AG, O'Neil M, Lovejoy T. Formal mindfulness practice predicts reductions in PTSD symptom severity following a mindfulness-based intervention for women with co-occurring PTSD and substance use disorder. Addiction science & clinical practice. 2022 Sep 16; 17(1):51. PMID: 36114577

Kate Mackey, MD, MPP is an Associate Director of the VA Evidence Synthesis Program Coordinating Center, where she works on rapid systematic reviews covering a broad range of topics of interest to VHA patient populations and VA leadership. She is also a primary care doctor at the VA Portland Resident & Faculty Primary Care Clinic and the VA Women's Clinic and runs a dedicated clinic for substance use disorder treatment. Kate is from Washington, DC and has a BA from Georgetown University, Master of Public Policy from Duke University, and MD from the University of Texas in San Antonio. She completed her residency and chief residency at OHSU where she is now an Assistant Professor of Medicine. Her research interests include chronic pain, substance use, and preventive medicine.

You can contact Kate Mackey by email at Katherine.Mackey@va.gov.

Evidence-based Synthesis Program Coordinating Center (Co-Principal Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Mark Helfand, MD and Katherine Mackey, MD, MPP
Grant ID: VA ESP 09-199

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Wyse JJ, Mackey K, Lovejoy TI, Kansagara D, Tuepker A, Gordon AJ, Todd Korthuis P, Herreid-O'Neill A, Williams B, Morasco BJ. Expanding access to medications for opioid use disorder through locally-initiated implementation. Addiction science & clinical practice. 2022 Jun 20; 17(1):32. PMID: 35725648
Wyse JJ, Herreid-O'Neill A, Dougherty J, Shull S, Mackey K, Priest KC, Englander H, Thoma J, Lovejoy TI. Perioperative Management of Buprenorphine/Naloxone in a Large, National Health Care System: a Retrospective Cohort Study. J Gen Intern Med. 2021 Sep 20. doi: 10.1007/s11606-021-07118-4. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34545469
Wyse JJ, Morasco BJ, Dougherty J, Edwards B, Kansagara D, Gordon AJ, Korthuis PT, Tuepker A, Lindner S, Mackey K, Williams B, Herreid-O'Neill A, Paynter R, Lovejoy TI. Adjunct interventions to standard medical management of buprenorphine in outpatient settings: A systematic review of the evidence. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 Jul 29;228:108923. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108923. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34508958
Arkhipova-Jenkins I, Helfand M, Armstrong C, Gean E, Anderson J, Paynter RA, Mackey K. Antibody Response After SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Implications for Immunity : A Rapid Living Review. Ann Intern Med. 2021 Mar 16. doi: 10.7326/M20-7547. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33721517

Benjamin Morasco, PhD is a Core Investigator, a staff psychologist at the VA Portland Health Care System, and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University. His primary research focus is on improving the safety and effectiveness of treatment for chronic pain. Dr. Morasco’s currently funded projects are examining outcomes of cannabis use for pain, strategies to change prescription opioid use, and randomized controlled trials examining the effectiveness of different multidisciplinary treatments for chronic pain. He also collaborates on other projects examining strategies for improving pain care for veterans living in rural settings, treating pain in patients with substance use disorders, and decision support to improve safety in pain management. He serves on local and national pain management workgroups, is a supervisor with the clinical psychology training program at the VA Portland Health Care System, and is Co-Director for research training in the MIRECC post-doctoral fellowship. Within CIVIC, Dr. Morasco also served as a research mentor for other investigators with career development awards.

You can contact Benjamin Morasco by email at Benjamin.Morasco@va.gov.

Impact of Prescription Opioid Dose Changes on Cannabis Use and Clinical Outcomes (Principal Investigator)

This is a national prospective cohort study examining changes in cannabis use following prescription opioid discontinuation and the impact of these changes on pain and quality of life.
Grant ID: NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse R01DA048817

Implementation of a Pragmatic Trial of Whole Health Team vs. Primary Care Group Education to Promote Non-Pharmacological Strategies to Improve Pain, Functioning, and Quality of Life in Veterans (Site Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator)

The goal is to conduct a pragmatic implementation-effectiveness trial in which we will develop, pilot and implement two care delivery approaches for over 600 veterans with moderate to severe chronic pain who will be randomized to receive either: (1) an intensive Whole Health Team (WHT) approach versus (2) a less intensive, usual care Primary Care Group Education (PC-GE).
Principal Investigator: Karen Seal and Becker
Grant ID: 1UG3AT009765

Comparative effectiveness of patient-centered strategies to improve pain management and opioid safety for veterans (Site Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator)

This pragmatic clinical trial will compare two strategies to improve pain and reduce opioid use.
Principal Investigator: Krebs
Grant ID: OPD-1511-33052

Chronic Pain Management and Patient-Centered Outcomes Following Discontinuation of Long-Term Opioid Therapy (Co-Investigator)

Risk for Opioid Abuse and Misuse in Adolescence (Co-Investigator)

This project will examine trajectories of pain and opioid use over time in adolescents who receive opioid prescriptions in outpatient medical settings.
Principal Investigator: Wilson and Feldstein-Ewing
Grant ID: R01DA044778

Living Systematic Review on Plant-based Treatment for Chronic Pain (Co-Investigator)

This project will create a Living systematic Review (LSR) on the use of plant-based compounds to treat chronic pain.
Principal Investigator: McDonagh
Grant ID: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 042-574-355

Pain/Opioid Consortium for Research (CORE) (Co-Investigator)

The goal of the Pain/Opioid CORE is to construct a Veterans Health Administration (VHA)-centric pain network, concentrating existing pain and opioid expertise and VHA system knowledge to advance care and create system impact. The Pain/Opioid CORE will function as a means to identify gaps and priorities, direct resources and effort to high-impact areas, and create a network that will support communication and high-quality collaboration among VHA investigators.
Principal Investigator: Heapy, Becker, Krebs
Grant ID: VA HSRD SDR

Expanding access to opioid use disorder treatment with buprenorphine in rural primary care settings (Mentor)

This is a career development award for Dr. Jessica Wyse to develop research expertise in expanding access to evidence-based addiction treatment in rural primary care.
Principal Investigator: Jessica Wyse, PhD
Grant ID: VA HSR&D HX003007

A Sleep Intervention to Improve Rehabilitation in Veterans with Chronic mTBI (Mentor)

This randomized controlled clinical trial aims to use morning bright light therapy to improve sleep-wake disturbances and therefore ameliorate chronic pain and improve quality of life in veterans with chronic mTBI.
Principal Investigator: Elliott
Grant ID: VA RR&D IK2RX002947

Survivors of Head and Neck Cancer: Optimizing Pain Management (Co-Mentor)

The overall goal of this project is to better understand the pain management practices and preferences among survivors of head and neck cancer. This will be achieved through three interrelated studies that will help us understand the unique pain management needs of survivors of head and neck cancer to provide an adapted pain management telehealth intervention.
Principal Investigator: Shannon Nugent, PhD
Grant ID: 132817 MSRG 18-216-01-CPHPS

Video-Telecare Collaborative Pain Management to Improve Function and Reduce Opioid Risk in Patients with End Stage Renal Disease Receiving Hemodialysis (Co-Investigator)

The goal is to conduct a multi-site RCT of different strategies for pain among patients with end stage renal disease.
Principal Investigator: Becker
Grant ID: NIH U01DK123817

Developing Cannabis Use Outcomes Survey with Medical Cannabis Consumers (Principal Investigator)

The existing measures for assessing outcomes from cannabis use have primarily focused on identifying cannabis use disorder (CUD) in recreational consumers. For example, several outcome measures have been developed by adapting alcohol-related problem measures for cannabis consumers,1,2,3 while others have been developed with populations specifically seeking treatment for CUD.2,4 Others have been developed with majority youth populations (< 18 years old).5 The generalizability of these measures may be limited by how and when they were developed and validated, and they may not accurately represent the experiences of people who use cannabis for physical and mental health symptom management or to those with a long history of cannabis use. Furthermore, these measures were developed prior to the increasingly widespread legalization of cannabis products throughout the United States. The proposed project aims to move towards more equitable survey development and produce a cannabis use outcomes measure that is more relevant to patients and clinicians.
Grant Type: SWIFT

Systematically Testing the Evidence on Marijuana (STEM) (Co-Investigator)

To conduct living systematic reviews related to cannabis for various health conditions and to develop clinician education materials based on the latest science.
Principal Investigator: Devan Kansagara
Grant ID: ORH-VRHRC-PDX-FY20

Tele-Collaborative Outreach to Rural Patients with Chronic Pain: The CORPs Trial (Co-Investigator)

Tailored Recovery and Engagement for Equitable Treatment of OUD and Pain (TREETOP) Clinical Research Center (Co-Investigator)

Effectiveness and implementation chronic pain self-management and flexible buprenorphine/naloxone dosing to improve pain and retention in office-based addiction treatment of the proposal project.
Principal Investigator: Merlin
Grant ID: RM1DA055311

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Elliott JE, McBride AA, Balba NM, Thomas SV, Pattinson CL, Morasco BJ, Wilkerson A, Gill JM, Lim MM. Feasibility and preliminary efficacy for morning bright light therapy to improve sleep and plasma biomarkers in US Veterans with TBI. A prospective, open-label, single-arm trial. PLoS ONE. 2022 Apr 14; 17(4):e0262955.
McDonagh MS, Morasco BJ, Wagner J, Ahmed AY, Fu R, Kansagara D, Chou R. Cannabis-Based Products for Chronic Pain : A Systematic Review. Annals of internal medicine. 2022 Aug 1; 175(8):1143-1153.
Morasco BJ, Adams MH, Hooker ER, Maloy PE, Krebs EE, Lovejoy TI, Saha S, Dobscha SK. A Cluster-Randomized Clinical Trial to Decrease Prescription Opioid Misuse: Improving the Safety of Opioid Therapy (ISOT). Journal of general internal medicine. 2022 Nov 1; 37(15):3805-3813.
Nugent SM, Morasco BJ, Handley R, Clayburgh D, Hooker ER, Ganzini L, Knight SJ, Chen JI, Sullivan DR, Slatore CG. Risk of Suicidal Self-directed Violence Among US Veteran Survivors of Head and Neck Cancer. JAMA otolaryngology-- head & neck surgery. 2021 Nov 1; 147(11):981-989
Wyse JJ, Mackey K, Lovejoy TI, Kansagara D, Tuepker A, Gordon AJ, Todd Korthuis P, Herreid-O'Neill A, Williams B, Morasco BJ. Expanding access to medications for opioid use disorder through locally-initiated implementation. Addiction science & clinical practice. 2022 Jun 20; 17(1):32.

Shannon Nugent, PhD is an investigator at the VA Portland Healthcare System, Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC) and an Assistant Professor at Oregon Health and Science University in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Nugent is broadly interested in understanding and improving mental health outcomes among individuals with serious medical conditions. Her research interests are in the areas of palliative medicine, psychosocial oncology, chronic pain, evidence synthesis, and improving access to health care for older adults. She is in her fourth year of a five-year Mentored Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society, "Survivors of Head and Neck Cancer: Optimizing Pain Management." She is also MPI of two VA HSR&D studies that aim to improve care for Veterans with Gulf War Illness and Long-COVID, respectively. In addition, she has received funding from the National Cancer Institute. She completed her PhD in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver in 2015 and completed a two-year health services research fellowship with CIVIC in 2018.

You can contact Shannon Nugent by email at Shannon.Nugent@va.gov.

Listening to Gulf War Era Veterans: A Qualitative Inquiry into the Health Experiences of Veterans with Chronic Multisymptom Illness (Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Mark Helfand
Grant ID: SDR 17-151

Survivors of Head and Neck Cancer: Optimizing Pain Management (Principal Investigator)

COVID-19 Observational Research Collaboratory (CORC) (Co-Investigator)

The goal of this multi-site study is to advance and support observational research related to the long-term complications of COVID-19 in Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Ioannou, Iwashyna, Hynes, Boyko, Maciejeski, Bowling, Bohnert, O'Hare

Evidence Synthesis Program Coordinating Center (Co-Investigator)

The ESP synthesizes scientific evidence on important clinical practice topics, and these reports help VHA: 1) develop clinical policies informed by evidence, 2) the implementation of effective services to improve patient outcomes and to support VHA clinical practice guidelines and performance measures, and 3) set the direction for future research to address gaps in clinical knowledge. I am the clinical lead on a Rapid Review for the VA Emergency Medicine State of the Art that is focused on mental health interventions delivered in the Emergency Department.
Principal Investigator: Mark Helfand
Grant ID: ESP 09-199

Tailored Recovery and Engagement for Equitable Treatment of OUD and Pain (TREETOP) Clinical Research Center (Co-Investigator)

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Lafferty M, Winchell K, Cottrell E, Knight S, Nugent SM. Women of the Gulf War: Understanding Their Military and Health Experiences Over 30 Years. Military medicine. 2022 Sep 30. PMID: 36179086
Nugent SM, Cottrell E, Knight SJ, Helfand M. Health Experiences Research as a Resource and Mechanism for Veteran Engagement in VA Healthcare Research and Care Delivery. Journal of general internal medicine. 2022 Apr 1; 37(Suppl 1):118-122. PMID: 35349029
Nugent SM, Golden SE, Sullivan DR, Thomas CR, Wisnivesky J, Saha S, Slatore CG. Patient-clinician communication and patient-centered outcomes among patients with suspected stage I non-small cell lung cancer: a prospective cohort study. Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England). 2022 Sep 29; 39(12):203. PMID: 36175802
Nugent SM, Lovejoy TI, Shull S, Dobscha SK, Morasco BJ. Associations of Pain Numeric Rating Scale Scores Collected during Usual Care with Research Administered Patient Reported Pain Outcomes. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.). 2021 Oct 8; 22(10):2235-2241. PMID: 33749760
Nugent SM, Morasco BJ, Handley R, Clayburgh D, Hooker ER, Ganzini L, Knight SJ, Chen JI, Sullivan DR, Slatore CG. Risk of Suicidal Self-directed Violence Among US Veteran Survivors of Head and Neck Cancer. JAMA otolaryngology-- head & neck surgery. 2021 Nov 1; 147(11):981-989. PMID: 34617963

Maya O'Neil, PhD is a CIVIC Core Investigator and neuropsychologist at the VA Portland Health Care System (OR Psychologist License #2248). She is also an Associate Professor at Oregon Health and Science University in the Departments of Psychiatry and Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology. She recently completed an AHRQ-supported K Fellowship focused on patient experiences related to PTSD and cognitive functioning. Her current research focuses on assessing and treating cognitive problems in Veterans with PTSD, which was recently funded by the VA through a Career Development Award. She is a neuropsychologist on the Rural Telemental Health clinical team at the Portland VA. She supervises practicum students, interns, and postdoctoral fellows, and assesses and treats patients with PTSD and other commonly comorbid conditions like depression and traumatic brain injury. She is the Principal Investigator of two OHSU projects funded by AHRQ and the National Center for PTSD examining randomized controlled trial data on PTSD interventions. She has also been the Principal Investigator of multiple Systematic Reviews of mental health and traumatic brain injury topics for the VA. Her current research examines how PTSD treatment and cognitive problems interact, and how to best treat the cognitive problems associated with PTSD. In her spare time she bikes, swims, and walks her 4 dogs.
Dr. O'Neil serves as a secondary mentor to Julie Kahler, PhD, one of CIVIC's post-doctoral fellows.

You can contact Maya O'Neil by email at Maya.Oneil@va.gov.

Suicide Prevention Trials Database (Principal Investigator)

FITBIR: Accelerating Synthesis of TBI Research Using Novel Methods (FAST RUN Methods) (Principal Investigator)

Grant ID: DoD CDMRP PT190056

Detecting Neurophysiologic Effects of Cognitive Rehabilitation for Veterans with PTSD (Principal Investigator)

Grant Source: Medical Research Fund

Assessment and Treatment of Cognitive Functioning Deficits in Veterans with PTSD (Principal Investigator)

This grant is a mentored career development award. The studies supported by this grant will assess cognitive functioning among Veterans who receive PTSD treatment, and will pilot test Compensatory Cognitive Training, a cognitive rehabilitation program, for Veterans with PTSD and cognitive problems.
Grant ID: 1 IK2 RX002762-01A1

Pharmacologic and Nonpharmacologic Treatments for PTSD: An Update (Principal Investigator)

This is a systematic data abstraction and database development and update project with the AHRQ EPC program. The project updates the recently created PTSD-Repository, reviews and compiles all RCTs on interventions for PTSD, and abstracts detailed data into the PTSD-Repository database. The PTSD-Repository is managed by the National Center for PTSD, and this project includes work with the NCPTSD to further develop and disseminate the PTSD-Repository and results based on analyses of these data.
Grant ID: AHRQ Systematic Review

Cognitive Rehabilitation for Older Veterans with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) (Co-Investigator)

This multi-site randomized control trial will evaluate the efficacy of a manualized cognitive rehabilitation intervention for older adults with MCI. The intervention was developed by Drs. Huckans and Twamley (MPIs) and is called “Compensatory Cognitive Training (CCT).”
Principal Investigator: Elizabeth W. Twamley
Grant ID: 1I01CX001592-01

Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC): Longitudinal Study (Co-Investigator)

Project goals: The Portland LIMBIC-CENC site contributes to the ongoing multisite longitudinal epidemiology study of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) among combat Veterans, including a site-specific focus on the auditory sequelae of mTBI.
Principal Investigator: Walker, Cifu
Grant ID: W81XWH-18-PH/TBIRP

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Clark JMR, Mahmood Z, Jak AJ, Huckans M, O'Neil ME, Roost MS, Williams RM, Turner AP, Pagulayan KF, Storzbach D, Twamley EW. Neuropsychological Performance and Functional Capacity Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans. The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation. 2022 Nov 1; 37(6):E488-E495. PMID: 36345556
Elliott JE, Keil AT, Mithani S, Gill JM, O'Neil ME, Cohen AS, Lim MM. Dietary Supplementation With Branched Chain Amino Acids to Improve Sleep in Veterans With Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Pilot and Feasibility Trial. Frontiers in systems neuroscience. 2022 May 4; 16:854874. PMID: 35602971
Gottshall JL, Agyemang AA, O'Neil M, Wei G, Presson A, Hewins B, Fisher D, Mithani S, Shahim P, Pugh MJ, Wilde EA, Devoto C, Yaffe K, Gill J, Kenney K, Werner JK. Sleep quality: A common thread linking depression, post-traumatic stress, and post-concussive symptoms to biomarkers of neurodegeneration following traumatic brain injury. Brain injury. 2022 Apr 16; 36(5):633-643. PMID: 35188022
O'Neil ME, Agyemang A, Walker WC, Pogoda TK, Klyce DW, Perrin PB, Hsu NH, Nguyen H, Presson AP, Cifu DX. Demographic, military, and health comorbidity variables by mild TBI and PTSD status in the LIMBIC-CENC cohort. Brain injury. 2022 Apr 16; 36(5):598-606. PMID: 35125059
O'Neil ME, Cameron D, Shirley K, Sano E, Twamley E, Williams R, Turner A, Pagulayan K, Roost M, Jak A, Storzbach D, Huckans M. Change in Learning and Memory Partially Mediates Effects of Compensatory Cognitive Training on Self-Reported Cognitive Symptoms. The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation. 2021 Nov 1; 36(6):429-436. PMID: 33656484

Sarah Ono, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist with extensive ethnographic and qualitative data experience who specializes in the complementarity of interview, observational, and focus group methods in health services research settings. As a core investigator with the VA HSR&D Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care at the VA Portland Health Care System, Dr. Ono is a leader in promoting and advancing Veteran engagement in research and collaborates on the VA Women's Health Research Network. As the Operations Director of the Veterans Rural Health Resource Center in Portland, OR (VRHRC-P), a field site for the VHA Office of Rural Health, she currently focuses on improving access to health care for rural Veterans and increasing the engagement of patients and communities in the process of research. An Associate Professor in Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University, she collaborates on work in the areas of suicide prevention, cannabis as it relates to pain management, and national strategies for rapid implementation of proven practices.
Dr. Ono serves as a primary mentor for Traben Pleasant, MSc, PhD.

You can contact Sarah Ono by email at Sarah.Ono@va.gov.

VA Veterans Rural Health Resource Center-Portland, OR (VRHRC-P) (Co-Director, Operations/Non-Clinical)

Veterans Rural Health Resource Centers (VRHRCs) support targeted research, developing innovative programs, and identifying new care models. Positioned as national centers the VRHRCs are renewed annually based on individual portfolios.
Principal Investigator: Sarah Ono and Travis Lovejoy
Grant ID: VRHRC-P

Women's Health Research Consortium/Practice-Based Research Network (WHRN) (Co-Investigator)

WHRN supports training (direct, web-based, and cyber-seminars), technical consultations (including pre-submission scientific review, access to a professional network of experts), collaborative research development (through national topical work groups), and dissemination support (cyber-seminars, conferences, journal supplements, training) for a national Consortium of VA investigators.
Principal Investigator: Yano, Frayne, Hamilton
Grant ID: HSR&D SDR 10-012

Impact of Prescription Opioid Dose Changes on Cannabis Use and Clinical Outcomes (Co-Investigator)

This high-impact study will provide novel data characterizing the extent to which cannabis use changes following prescription opioid dose modification, and the impact of these changes on pain, function, substance use status, and quality of life.
Principal Investigator: Benjamin Morasco
Grant ID: NIH R01DA048817

Tele-Collaborative Outreach to Rural Patients with Chronic Pain: The CORPs Trial (Co-Investigator)

Major Goals: The major goals of this pragmatic effectiveness trial are to determine if a telehealth intervention can improve pain and quality of life outcomes, while increasing use of non pharmacologic pain treatments, in rural veterans with chronic pain.
Principal Investigator: Travis Lovejoy
Grant ID: UG3 AT012257

NW Center of Excellence & K12 in Patient Centered Learning Health Systems Science

The aims of this program are to recruit, train, and support 5 scholars at all times to become our nation's leaders and innovators in learning health systems science; prepare scholars to design, implement, and disseminate patient-engaged, evidence-based, real-world research projects to ensure the uptake of research into improvements in health, health decision-making, and health care systems; and convene a cross-systems collaborative to promote cross-institutional scholar interactions, cooperative sharing of curricula, methodological advances, and promote multi-site project opportunities.
Grant ID: AHRQ K12 HS026370
Principal Investigators: Guise and Savitz

Chronic pain management and patient-centered outcomes following discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy (Co-Investigator, Qualitative Consultant)

This prospective cohort study aims to improve our understanding of patients’ experiences with the opioid discontinuation process and post-discontinuation outcomes, both positive and negative.
Principal Investigator: Travis Lovejoy
Grant ID: I01HX002518

Expanding Access to Opioid Use Disorder Treatment and Improving Retention in Rural Primary Care (Consultant/Mentor)

Principal Investigator: Jessica Wyse

Optimizing Outcomes in Home-Based Primary Care (Consultant/Mentor)

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Chen JI, Ono SS, Laliberte AZ, Roth B, Dobscha SK, Center To Improve Veteran Involvement In Care Veteran Engagement Group (VEG). Veteran community engagement and social connection needs following inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. 2022 Aug 1. PMID: 35913855
Kenzie ES, Patzel M, Nelson E, Lovejoy T, Ono S, Davis MM. Long drives and red tape: mapping rural veteran access to primary care using causal-loop diagramming. BMC health services research. 2022 Aug 23; 22(1):1075. PMID: 35999540
Knight SJ, Haibach JP, Hamilton AB, Whittle J, Ono SS, Butler J, Flower M, Ray CD, Pugh MJ, Zickmund SL. Veteran Engagement in Health Services Research: a Conceptual Model. Journal of general internal medicine. 2022 Apr 1; 37(Suppl 1):94-98. PMID: 35349018
Hulen E, Laliberte AZ, Ono SS, Saha S, Edwards S. “Eyes in the Home”: Addressing Social Complexity in Veterans Affairs Home-Based Primary Care. J GEN INTERN MED 36, 894–900 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-020-06356-2
Teo AR, Strange W, Bui R, Dobscha SK, Ono SS. Responses to Concerning Posts on Social Media and Their Implications for Suicide Prevention Training for Military Veterans: Qualitative Study. J Med Internet Res 2020;22(10):e22076. doi: 10.2196/22076

Christopher D. Pfeiffer, MD, MHS serves as the Hospital Epidemiologist and Section Chief of Infectious Diseases at the VA Portland Health Care System (VAPORHCS) and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). Dr. Pfeiffer’s areas of interest include healthcare-associated infection, multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), hospital epidemiology, and infections in the immunocompromised host. His work is centered around preventing, detecting, and controlling the spread of of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) with a particular focus on carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). He serves as Medical Director for the Drug-Resistant Organism Prevention and Coordinated Regional Epidemiology (DROP-CRE) Network with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and is involved in multicenter research collaborations. Most notable is his role as Principal Investigator of a CDC-funded project to implement a novel electronic system to track patients with MDROs such as CRE as they are transferred from VA facility-to-facility across the country. Dr. Pfeiffer is also a co-investigator for the VA HSR&D-funded CREATE projects, a VA CSP study of treatment for recurrent Clostridium Difficile, and a NIH-funded study of clinician decision making.

You can contact Christopher Pfeiffer by email at Christopher.Pfeiffer2@va.gov.

Incorporating Bayesian reasoning into physician testing and treatment decisions (Site Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator)

Major goal: Examine how poor probabilistic reasoning makes physicians underestimate the likelihood of false positive tests and overestimate treatment effects, which leads to over-diagnosis and overtreatment. Interventions will be developed with visual aids.
Principal Investigator: Daniel J Morgan
Grant ID: NIH 1DP2LM012890-01

Optimal Treatment for Recurrent Clostridium Difficile (OpTION) (Site Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator)

Major goal: To determine whether fidaxomicin and vancomycin followed by taper and pulse vancomycin treatment are superior to standard vancomycin treatment for the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection.
Principal Investigator: Stuart B Johnson and Dale N Gerding
Grant ID: CSP 596

EPIC3: Epidemiology, Immunology and Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19 (Site Co-Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Smith and Ross
Grant ID: CSP 2028

CLOVER Study: A Phase 3, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized, Observer-Blinded Study to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of a Clostridium Difficile Vaccine in Adults 50 Years of Age and Older (Site Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Pfeiffer
Grant ID: NCT B5091007

VA INTREPID: Investigation of Rifampin to Reduce Pedal Amputations for Osteomyelitis in Diabetics (Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Bessesen
Grant ID: CSP 2001

Fecal Microbiota Transplant to Enhance Response to PD-1 Inhibition in Metastatic Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer (Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Graff
Grant ID: Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Award

CDC Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity Program. Regional Multidrug-Resistant Organism Prevention and Detection; Drug-Resistant Organism Prevention and Coordinated Regional Epidemiology (DROP-CRE) Network (Medical Director)

Major goal: prevent and control the spread of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) and specifically carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) in Oregon.
Grant ID: Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) grant #280702

Effect of Expanding (Gloving) Barrier Precautions for Reducing Clostridium dificile Acquisition (and Infection) in VA: The GLORI Study (Site Principal Investigator)

Major goal: The research question is to determine the effectiveness of healthcare workers’ use of universal gloving for all patient care in reducing the acquisition of C. difficile in hospitalized patients compared with current VA recommended care.
Principal Investigator: Safdar
Grant ID: HSR&D HX002666-01

Combating Antimicrobial Resistance through Rapid Implementation of Available Guidelines and Evidence (CARRIAGE) 2.0 (Site Principal Investigator)

The major goal is to take a multi-pronged approach to reducing antimicrobial resistance in VA. One project is to evaluate the implementation of the national Inpatient Pathogen Tracker (renamed VA Bug Alert).
Principal Investigator: Evans
Grant ID: QUERI QUE 20-016

Dissemination and Implementation of a Videoconference Antimicrobial Stewardship Team (VAST)

Major goal: Identify and test effective strategies for implementing the VAST. Determine the influence of the VAST overall, on the care of Veterans with suspected infections, and on antibiotic use at each VAMC.
Principal Investigator: Jump
Grant ID: HSR&D IIR 20-246

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Fitzpatrick MA, Suda KJ, Ramanathan S, Wilson G, Poggensee L, Evans M, Jones MM, Pfeiffer CD, Klutts JS, Perencevich E, Rubin M, Evans CT, QUERI CARRIAGE Program. Increased carbapenemase testing following implementation of national VA guidelines for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE). Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology: ASHE. 2022 Jun 2; 2(1):e88. PMID: 36483386
Hockett Sherlock S, Goedken CC, Balkenende EC, Dukes KC, Perencevich EN, Reisinger HS, Forrest GN, Pfeiffer CD, West KA, Schweizer M. Strategies for the implementation of a nasal decolonization intervention to prevent surgical site infections within the Veterans Health Administration. Frontiers in Health Services. 2022 Aug 17; https://doi.org/10.3389/frhs.2022.920830.
Korenstein D, Scherer LD, Foy A, Pineles L, Lydecker AD, Owczarzak J, Magder L, Brown JP, Pfeiffer CD, Terndrup C, Leykum L, Stevens D, Feldstein DA, Weisenberg SA, Baghdadi JD, Morgan DJ. Clinician Attitudes and Beliefs Associated with More Aggressive Diagnostic Testing. The American journal of medicine. 2022 Jul 1; 135(7):e182-e193. PMID: 35307357
Ramanathan S, Albarillo FS, Fitzpatrick MA, Suda KJ, Poggensee L, Vivo A, Evans ME, Jones M, Safdar N, Pfeiffer C, Smith B, Wilson G, Evans CT. Infectious Disease Consults of Bloodstream Infection and Impact on Health Outcomes. Open forum infectious diseases. 2022 Sep 1; 9(9):ofac456. PMID: 36168551
Wilson GM, Suda KJ, Fitzpatrick MA, Bartle B, Pfeiffer CD, Jones M, Rubin MA, Perencevich E, Evans M, Evans CT, QUERI CARRIAGE Program. Risk Factors Associated With Carbapenemase-Producing Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Positive Cultures in a Cohort of US Veterans. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. 2021 Oct 20; 73(8):1370-1378. PMID: 33973631

Carrie Puckett, DO is an Assistant Professor in the Knight Cardiovascular Institute at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and Staff Cardiologist at the Portland VA Medical Center. She received her doctor of osteopathy at Kansas City University of Medicine. She completed Internal Medicine residency at OHSU and stayed on briefly as a VA hospitalist before doing General Cardiology and then Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology fellowships at OHSU. After completion of her training, she practiced in the community in Eugene before coming back to the VA to be the director of the Portland VA Heart Failure (HF) program in 2017. Since that time, she serves as a medical director for VA ECHO Cardiology. She also has been involved in the development of various local HF initiatives, quality improvement projects, and co-investigator with an MVP and DOE study. Her research interests are in clinical HF and interdisciplinary HF management with palliative care.

You can contact Carrie Puckett by email at Carrie.Puckett@va.gov.

Reducing Cardiovascular and Metabolic Morbidity: Deep Phenotyping of a Major Modifiable Risk Factor- Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Boudreau
Grant Source: VA Million Veteran Program (MVP) and the U.S Department of Energy (DOE)

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

C. Puckett and Sarah Goodlin. A Modern Integration of Palliative Care into the Management of Heart Failure. Canadian Journal of Cardiology. July 2020; 36 (7):1050-1060

Somnath Saha, MD, MPH is a CIVIC core investigator and Professor of Medicine and Public Health at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and Johns Hopkins University. He has maintained a research program focused on health care disparities and patient-provider relationships since completing his HSR&D CDA in 2009. He recently completed a multi-center VA study, "Opening the Black Box of Cultural Competence" (IIR 14-007) and is now conducting a secondary analysis of the data from that study as a HSR&D-funded pilot project, "Applying Novel Analytic Methods to Address the Impact of Race on Patient-Provider Communication" (PPO 20-325). He is a co-investigator on another CIVIC project, "Chronic Pain Management and Patient-centered Outcomes Following Discontinuation of Long-Term Opioid Therapy" (IIR 17-268), led by Dr. Lovejoy. Dr. Saha serves on the Research Committees and Health Equity Commission of the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM). He also chairs the review panel on Social Determinants of Health (HS2A) for the HSR&D Scientific Merit Review Board.

You can contact Somnath Saha by email at Somnath.Saha@va.gov or Sahas@ohsu.edu.

Applying Novel Analytic Methods to Address the Impact of Race on Patient-Provider Communication (Principal Investigator)

The objective of this study is to use novel, natural language processing methods to conduct linguistic analysis of previously collected audio recorded primary care encounters, and to compare linguistic style and style matching, by patient race and provider cultural competence.
Grant ID: I21HX003376

Mid-Atlantic Center for Cardiometabolic Health Equity (MACCHE) (Co-Investigator/Co-Director of Investigator Development Care)

The overarching goal of the MACCHE is to test the effectiveness of comprehensive, integrated, and multi-level evidence-based strategies for improving cardiometabolic health outcomes among socially disadvantaged populations in Maryland, using community- based participatory research and patient-centered outcomes research principles, and translate them into clinical and public health practice and policy. The MACCHE includes 3 separate, but related intervention studies addressing disparities in cardiometabolic disease; 3 integrated cores (Administrative, Investigator Development, and Community Engagement); an Executive Committee; and a Community Advisory Board.
Principal Investigators: Cooper, Crews
Grant ID: 1P50MD017348-01

Project ReDIreCTS: Reducing Disparities through Improved Communication in Tonsillectomy and Sleep (Co-Investigator)

The objective of this study is to examine underlying causes of racial disparities in treatment decisions and patient outcomes among children with obstructive sleep disordered breathing.
Principal Investigator: Boss
Grant ID: 1R01HL155580-01

Hidden in Plain Sight: Stigmatizing Language in Patient Medical Records (Co-Investigator)

The goal of this project is to define and develop a taxonomy of stigmatizing language in medical records, to measure and test for bias in the use of stigmatizing language using natural language processing methods, and to reduce stigmatizing language in medical records using implementation science strategies.
Principal Investigator: Beach
Grant ID: R01 MD017048-01

NRSA Training Core: Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (Co-Investigator)

This CTSA grant will support clinical and translational research throughout Johns Hopkins. It includes support for education and training of new translational investigators, facilities in which clinical research can take place and infrastructure support of patient recruitment, bioinformatics, biostatistics and translational core centers.
Principal Investigator: Ford
Grant ID: UL1TR001079

Developing Novel Linguistic Analytic Methods to Optimize Relationship Quality and Equity in HIV Care (Co-Investigator)

The objective of this study is to use computerized text analysis tools to develop innovative, valid and scalable measurement and analytic approaches for better understanding of patient-physician interactions that can guide development of interventions to improve the quality of HIV care.
Principal Investigator: Beach
Grant ID: R21 MH126714-01

Chronic Pain Management and Patient-Centered Outcomes Following Discontinuation of Long-Term Opioid Therapy (Co-Investigator)

The objective of this study is to characterize patient experiences with the opioid discontinuation process and examine acute, intermediate, and long-term changes in quality of life following discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy.
Principal Investigator: Travis Lovejoy
Grant ID: HSR&D IIR 17-268

Improving Decision Making in Lung Cancer: A Low-literacy Conversation Tool (Co-Investigator)

The goals of this study are to refine a personalized conversation tool among patients with lung cancer and clinicians and to conduct a multi-site, stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of the conversation tool on patient-centered health and shared decision making outcomes among patients making treatment decisions.
Principal Investigator: Donald Sullivan
Grant ID: RSG-20-127-01

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Hulen E, Lafferty M, Laliberte A, Saha S, Edwards ST. Balancing the benefits of patient-clinician relationships with professional boundaries in Home-based Primary Care. Home health care services quarterly. 2022 Mar 29; 41(4):330-340. PMID: 35348032
Kondo KK, Williams BE, Ayers CK, Kansagara D, Smith M, Advani SM, Young S, Saha S. Factors Associated with Health Inequalities in Infectious Disease Pandemics Predating COVID-19 in the United States: A Systematic Review. Health equity. 2022 Mar 24; 6(1):254-269. PMID: 35402773
Morasco BJ, Adams MH, Hooker ER, Maloy PE, Krebs EE, Lovejoy TI, Saha S, Dobscha SK. A Cluster-Randomized Clinical Trial to Decrease Prescription Opioid Misuse: Improving the Safety of Opioid Therapy (ISOT). Journal of general internal medicine. 2022 Nov 1; 37(15):3805-3813. PMID: 35296983
Nugent SM, Golden SE, Sullivan DR, Thomas CR, Wisnivesky J, Saha S, Slatore CG. Patient-clinician communication and patient-centered outcomes among patients with suspected stage I non-small cell lung cancer: a prospective cohort study. Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England). 2022 Sep 29; 39(12):203. PMID: 36175802
Williams BE, Kondo KK, Ayers CK, Kansagara D, Young S, Saha S. Preventing Unequal Health Outcomes in COVID-19: A Systematic Review of Past Interventions. Health equity. 2021 Dec 27; 5(1):856-871. PMID: 35018320

Christopher Slatore, MD, MS is a health services researcher and Professor at Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Slatore completed his HSR&D CDA in 2015, which was a mixed-methods study of the relationship between communication strategies and patient-centered outcomes among patients with pulmonary nodules. He published nine journal articles directly related to this project. Other ongoing projects focus on the prevention, detection, treatment, and healthcare delivery for patients with tobacco-related lung diseases, chiefly lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). His research aims to improve patient outcomes and to develop innovative approaches to treatment in these areas. Dr. Slatore is or has been funded by the Radiation Oncology Institute, VA, American Cancer Society, and the Knight Cancer Institute to evaluate patient-centered outcomes for patients with and at risk for lung cancer. Clinically, he is helps lead several local and national programs regarding lung cancer screening and pulmonary nodule surveillance. Dr. Slatore's work has been substantially supported by our Center, including grant submission support and assistance from our statistician and data analyst.
You can contact Christopher Slatore by email at Christopher.Slatore@va.gov.

Teachable Moment to Opt-Out of Tobacco (Team OUT): A Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial (Principal Investigator)

The design and evaluation of a smoking cessation intervention using interactive voice response (IVR) technology to connect smokers to existing cessation services.
Grant: VA HSR&D IIR

Pragmatic Trial of More versus Less Intensive Strategies for Active Surveillance of Patients with Small Pulmonary Nodules (Co-Principal Investigator)

The goal of this study is to compare two protocols for CT surveillance, both of which are supported by existing guidelines from professional societies and are consistent with current standards of care.
Principal Investigator: Christopher Slatore and Michael K Gould
Grant ID: PCS-1403-12653

Patient-Centered Decision Support for Veterans Making Choices About Where to Get Their Health Care: "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" (Co-Principal Investigator)

The goal of this study is to evaluate how Veterans to make decisions regarding receiving VHA vs. non-VHA care.
Principal Investigator: Slatore and Hynes
Grant ID: VA HSR&D RIVR 19-481

Improving Decision Making in All Stage Lung Cancer (I DESCide): A Conversation Tool Among Patients Making Treatment Decisions (Co-Investigator)

The purpose of this randomized control trial is to test the effectiveness of a decision aid among patients making lung cancer treatment-related decisions in clinical settings.
Principal Investigator: Sullivan
Grant ID: Medical Research Foundation New Investigator Grant

Precision screening for lung cancer: importance of comorbid conditions to clinical practice and policy (Co-Investigator)

The goal of this study is to precisely characterize this vulnerable subpopulation with high comorbidity burden, quantifying for them the benefits and harms of LCS to enable more informed decision-making by patients contemplating LCS.
Principal Investigator: Braithwaithe
Grant ID: NIH R01 CA249506

Quantifying and improving radiotherapy outcomes among Veterans (Mentor)

This proposal is a mentored VA Career Development Award to investigate genetic risk factors of radiation-induced secondary malignancy and second cancers more generally.
Principal Investigator: Thompson
Grant ID: 1 IK2 CX002049-01

Optimizing Critical Care for Patients with Acute Respiratory Failure: A Mixed-Methods Study (Mentor)

The goal of this study is to investigate how the organizational characteristics and processes of care at Emergency Departments and Intensive Care Units impact the care of patients with diagnoses common in the ICU. We compare outcomes at high-acuity and low-acuity hospitals.
Principal Investigator: Kelly Vranas
Grant ID: VA HSR&D CDA-2 18-191

Prioritization of Cancer Sites for Novel Screening Technologies

The goal of this project is to develop a population modeling framework for prioritizing cancer sites for novel early detection efforts applicable to three solid lethal cancer sites: lung, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers.
Principal Investigator: Gogebakan
Grant ID: OHSU CEDAR FULL8140929

Survivors of Head and Neck Cancer: Optimizing Pain Management (Mentor)

The overall goal of this project is to better understand the pain management practices and preferences among survivors of head and neck cancer.
Principal Investigator: Shannon Nugent
Grant ID: MSRG-18-216-01-CPHPS

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Braithwaite D, Karanth SD, Slatore CG, Zhang D, Bian J, Meza R, Jeon J, Tammemagi M, Schabath M, Wheeler M, Guo Y, Hochhegger B, Kaye FJ, Silvestri GA, Gould MK. Personalised Lung Cancer Screening (PLuS) study to assess the importance of coexisting chronic conditions to clinical practice and policy: protocol for a multicentre observational study. BMJ open. 2022 Jun 22; 12(6):e064142
Gershengorn HB, Vranas KC, Ouyang D, Cheng S, Rogers AJ, Schweiger L, Cooke CR, Slatore CG. Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Author Gender and Manuscript Acceptance Rates among Pulmonary and Critical Care Journals. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 2022 May 19
Hedstrom GH, Hooker ER, Howard M, Shull S, Golden SE, Deffebach ME, Gorman JD, Murphy K, Fabbrini A, Melzer AC, Slatore CG. The Chain of Adherence for Incidentally Detected Pulmonary Nodules after an Initial Radiologic Imaging Study: A Multisystem Observational Study. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 2022 Aug 1; 19(8):1379-1389
Khan AM, McGrath LB, Ramsey K, Agarwal A, Slatore CG, Broberg CS. Distance to Care, Rural Dwelling Status, and Patterns of Care Utilization in Adult Congenital Heart Disease. Pediatric cardiology. 2022 Mar 1; 43(3):532-540
Lewis JA, Samuels LR, Denton J, Matheny ME, Maiga A, Slatore CG, Grogan E, Kim J, Sherrier RH, Dittus RS, Massion PP, Keohane L, Roumie CL, Nikpay S. The Association of Health Care System Resources With Lung Cancer Screening Implementation: A Cohort Study. Chest. 2022 Sep 1; 162(3):701-711

Alan Teo, MD, MS, is a psychiatrist who joined our Center in 2013. Dr. Teo currently serves as CIVIC's Acting Director of Research Education. Dr. Teo is also an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Teo's primary research focus is on the role of social connection in influencing mental health outcomes. He has a particular focus on insights and interventions that can mitigate loneliness and social isolation as a suicide prevention strategy.

In current and recent intervention studies funded by the VA, he has evaluated VA S.A.V.E., a form of “gatekeeper training” designed to help family and friends assist military veterans at risk for suicide, and he is conducting a pragmatic trial of an adaption of Caring Contacts called the “Buddy Check Postcard Project.” He also maintains interests in leveraging social media in health services research and recently has helped lead an evaluation of digital ads used in VA’s “Keep It Secure” suicide prevention campaign, which focuses on firearms safety. He completed an HSR&D career development award (CDA), which was aimed at engaging Veterans' close social relationships in the treatment of their depression. Dr. Teo is an international expert in a severe form of social withdrawal called hikikomori and has collaborated extensively with research colleagues internationally, particularly in Japan.

Dr. Teo’s research has been disseminated by national and international media such as the New York Times, NPR, TIME, and the Wall Street Journal. Clinically, Dr Teo’s interests include collaborative care and cultural psychiatry. He also enjoys opportunities to provide mentorship to physicians interested in research. Dr. Teo completed training at Stanford University, University of California San Francisco, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program at University of Michigan. In his personal time, he enjoys dispersed camping with his family and running mountain and trail ultramarathons.

You can contact Alan Teo by email at Alan.Teo@va.gov or teoa@ohsu.edu.

Buddy Check Postcard Project (Principal Investigator)

The primary objective of this project is to evaluate an adaptation of Caring Contacts tailored to older Veterans who may be struggling with social connection and treatment engagement with primary care or mental health in the VA. This is called the Buddy Check Postcard Project, and the project will determine if the intervention reduces loneliness and improves mental health outcomes.
Grant ID: SDR 21-087

Comparative Effectiveness PTSD Trial of Sequenced Pharmacotherapy and Psychotherapy in Primary Care (Site PI)

This project has three main aims: we propose to 1) compare outcomes among patients randomized to initially receive pharmacotherapy or brief psychotherapy, 2) compare outcomes among patients randomized to treatment sequences (i.e., switching and augmenting) for patients not responding to the initial treatment and 3) examine variation in treatment outcomes among different subgroups of patients.
Principal Investigator: John Fortney
Grant ID: PCORI PTSD-2019C1-15636.

Virtual Yoga for Social Isolation and loneliness in Rural Veterans (Principal Investigator)

This project aims to understand how to expand access to rural Veterans through virtual yoga group classes, while simultaneously evaluating fidelity of the intervention using sensor technology and addressing underlying issues of social isolation and loneliness in the target population.
Grant ID: VHA VRHRC-Portland FY22

KeepItSecure (PREVENTS) Lethal Means Safety Campaign Evaluation (Co-Investigator)

The overall goal of this project is to describe initial responses to VA KeepItSecure PSA to guide future message content and delivery approaches of lethal means messaging.
Principal Investigator: Karras

Exposure to Suicide Among Post 9/11 Veterans: Prevalence, Correlates, and Treatment Needs (Co-Investigator)

The primary objective of this study is to describe the health and functional outcomes of suicide exposure among a cohort of Veterans at particularly high risk for suicide and of priority for VA suicide prevention strategies - post-9/11 Veterans transitioning to civilian life. Our second objective is to elucidate the reasons some Veterans develop persistent problems following suicide exposure while others do not.
Grant ID: SDR 21-046
Principal Investigator: Sayer

Reducing Social Isolation and Loneliness Through Physical Activity to Lower Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Military Women and Men Reintegrating Into Civilian Life (Mentor)

The purpose of this 5-year Mentored Research Scientist Development Award is to characterize the needs related to physical activity and social factors and utilize community-based participatory research to co-design a group-based physical activity intervention with veterans transitioning to civilian life. Additionally, the aim is to test the feasibility and acceptability (i.e., retention and satisfaction) and preliminary health effects (i.e., blood pressure, social isolation, and loneliness) of the group-based physical activity intervention that harnesses components of social support, sense of belonging, and feelings of social connectedness to reduce social isolation and loneliness among veterans transitioning from active duty to civilian life.
Principal Investigator: Yarish
Grant ID: 1K01HL159348-01A1

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Amendola S, Presaghi F, Teo AR, Cerutti R. Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the 25-Item Hikikomori Questionnaire for Adolescents. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2022 Aug 21; 19(16). PMID: 36012042
Das A, Padala KP, Crawford CG, Teo A, Mendez DM, Phillips OA, Wright BC, House S, Padala PR. A systematic review of loneliness and social isolation scales used in epidemics and pandemics. Psychiatry Research. 2021 Dec 1; 306:114217. PMID: 34644661
Ishibashi S, Ide S, Suzuki F, Teo A, Nagata T, Kosaka H. Development of the Japanese version of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale and Obsession with COVID-19 Scale. Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences. 2022 Apr 1; 76(4):124-125. PMID: 35043511
Lafferty M, Strange W, Kaboli P, Tuepker A, Teo AR. Patient Sense of Belonging in the Veterans Health Administration: A Qualitative Study of Appointment Attendance and Patient Engagement. Medical care. 2022 Sep 1; 60(9):726-732. PMID: 35880766
Teo AR, Call AA, Hooker ER, Fong C, Karras E, Dobscha SK. Feasibility of recruitment and retention in a remote trial of gatekeeper training for close supports of military veterans: Mixed methods study. Contemporary clinical trials communications. 2022 Dec 1; 30:100993. PMID: 36159001

Anaїs Tuepker, PhD, MPH, is a sociologist and health services researcher whose work investigates the impacts of relational, team-based models of primary care on the well-being of health care workers, patients, and communities. She is currently the Principal Investigator for a qualitative study exploring the potential benefits and challenges of community-based ecotherapy programs for Veterans. As the Qualitative Core Director for CIVIC, she helps support CIVIC fellows and investigators to integrate qualitative approaches into their work. Previously, she led a VA Partnered Evaluation Initiative to evaluate interprofessional clinical educational efforts within the VA's Centers of Excellence for Primary Care Education, and was one of four PIs on a national evaluation of iNET, VA's employee innovation training and support network. She is Co-Director of Research with RELATE Lab (Research in Equity, Leadership, And Team Effectiveness) at Oregon Health and Science University, where she contributes to studies on relational leadership, cross-sector alignment, and the use of community organizing tools within healthcare. Her interest in dismantling barriers to care has led to her role as a co-investigator on studies examining topics including how to improve care for women Veterans experiencing Intimate Partner Violence, the impact of supportive housing for Veterans experiencing homelessness, and the role of race in patient-provider communication. Her work often utilizes participatory, realist, and/or action-oriented approaches to engage health system workers and patients in co-creating knowledge for health system redesign.

You can contact Anaїs Tuepker by email at Anais.Tuepker@va.gov.

Digging Deeper: Understanding Veteran and Community Partner Perspectives on Agricultural Approaches to Connection and Purpose (Principal Investigator)

This qualitative project will look at critical factors influencing implementation of VA-community partnerships to promote farming as a path to Veteran well-being.
Grant ID: VA ORH (0160ORH)

Mixed Methods Evaluation of the RELATE Lab (Co-Director of Research

Oversight of a comprehensive research and evaluation program to improve relational capacity in health care settings. Interventions include in person relational leadership training, building and fostering online communities, and narrative multimedia outreach.
Principal Investigator: Park
Grant Source: Morris Singer Foundation

Implementation of shared decision making in rheumatoid arthritis: A stepped wedge, cluster-randomized trial (Co-Investigator)

This mixed method study will test and evaluate the performance of a novel tool for engaging patients with rheumatoid arthritis in shared decision making around treatment choices.
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Barton
Grant ID: IIR 20-162

Teachable Moment to Opt-Out of Tobacco (TeaM OUT): A Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial (Co-Investigator)

The design and evaluation of a smoking cessation intervention using interactive voice response (IVR) technology to connect smokers to existing cessation services.
Principal Investigator: Christopher Slatore
Grant ID: VA HSR&D IIR

Extending the Safety Net: Reaching Veterans at High Risk for Suicide who Disengaged from Care (Co-Investigator)

Principal Investigator: Jason Chen
Grant ID: HSR&D SPRINT

Care Coordination and Outcomes for High Risk Patients: Building the Evidence for Implementation (Co-Investigator)

This multiple methods study will use administrative data analysis, focus group and key informant interviews to investigate impacts of current and planned innovations in VHA care coordination processes and outcomes for high risk, high need patients.
Principal Investigator: Denise Hynes
Grant ID: IIR 20-165-3

COVID-19 Observational Research Collaboratory (CORC) Coordinating Center - Long Term Outcomes (Co-Investigator)

This project will analyze VA administrative data, as well as survey and interview data from Veterans with long-term COVID, to develop new knowledge about health and healthcare utilization outcomes resulting from the COVID pandemic.
Principal Investigators: Iwashyna, Hynes, Bowling, O'Hare, Bohnert
Grant ID: C19 21-279

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Chi C, Núñez A, Tuepker A. From sharing voices to making decisions: The case for centring community ownership in evaluation of health programme planning and management. The International journal of health planning and management. 2022 Sep 13. PMID: 36100969
Gabrielian S, Koosis ER, Cohenmehr J, Hellemann G, Tuepker A, Green MF, Vazzano JK, Young AS. Factors associated with recovery from homelessness among veterans in permanent supportive housing. Journal of Community Psychology. 2022 Jul 1; 50(5):2144-2162. PMID: 34862803
Lafferty M, Strange W, Kaboli P, Tuepker A, Teo AR. Patient Sense of Belonging in the Veterans Health Administration: A Qualitative Study of Appointment Attendance and Patient Engagement. Medical care. 2022 Sep 1; 60(9):726-732. PMID: 35880766
Wyse JJ, Mackey K, Lovejoy TI, Kansagara D, Tuepker A, Gordon AJ, Todd Korthuis P, Herreid-O'Neill A, Williams B, Morasco BJ. Expanding access to medications for opioid use disorder through locally-initiated implementation. Addiction science & clinical practice. 2022 Jun 20; 17(1):32. PMID: 35725648
Zikmund-Fisher BJ, Tuepker A, Metcalf EE, Strange W, Teo AR. Applying user-centered design in the development of nudges for a pragmatic trial to reduce no-shows among veterans. Patient education and counseling. 2022 Jun 1; 105(6):1620-1627. PMID: 34756639

Kelly C. Vranas, MD, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Oregon Health & Science University, a Staff Physician at the Portland VA Medical Center, and a Core Investigator at CIVIC. She received her M.D. from Cornell University and completed residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. As part of her Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship training at Stanford University, she spent a year as a research fellow at the Clinical Excellence Research Center, the first university-based research center exclusively dedicated to discovering, testing, and evaluating cost-saving innovations in healthcare while simultaneously improving the quality and experience of care. She is now a critical care health services researcher at CIVIC focused on improving the quality, efficiency, and value of critical care for Veterans hospitalized with acute respiratory failure through innovations in the care delivery process. Other ongoing projects include studying the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on ICU clinicians experiences as frontline healthcare workers, and the impact of type and timing hospital emergency responses to the COVID-19 pandemic on patient outcomes. Dr. Vranas serves as a secondary mentor to HSR&D fellow Liana Schweiger.

You can contact Kelly Vranas by email at kelly.vranas@va.gov.

Optimizing Critical Care for Patients with Acute Respiratory Failure: A Mixed-Methods Study (Principal Investigator)

The goal of this study is to quantify the influence of ICU bed supply on ICU demand and identify modifiable organizational factors and processes of care associated with high value care of patients hospitalized with acute respiratory failure.
Grant ID: HSR&D CDA-2

Long Term Outcomes of COVID-19 on Veterans: A Qualitative Study (Co-Investigator)

The goal of this study is to elicit Veteran experiences of COVID-19 recovery through inductive qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews in purposively sampled Veterans and their care givers. This Aim is part of a larger mixed-method study performed in collaboration with the VA Ann Arbor and VA Puget Sound to advance our understanding of the consequences and care of COVID-19 infection by developing and releasing integrated and multi-modal data and results on long-term outcomes of COVID-19 for use by VA clinical, research, and operations communities.
Grant Source: COVID-19 Observational Research Collaboratory (CORC) Coordinating Center

Remote and Equitable Access to COVID-19 Healthcare Delivery (Principal Investigator)

The major goal of this study is to use mixed methods, including hospital-level surveys and interviews of healthcare workers, to evaluate gaps in care for patients following hospitalization for COVID-19. We will also qualitatively assess COVID-19 survivors and their caregivers at 6 and 12 months following hospitalization to explore adaptations and barriers to COVID recovery.
Grant ID: GPULM0333A

Economic Modeling to Understand the Relationship between Clinicians and Outcomes of Mechanically Ventilated Patients (Co-Investigator)

The goal of this study is to elucidate the role of physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists individually and as teams in the care and outcomes of patients hospitalized with acute respiratory therapy on mechanical ventilation.
Principal Investigator: Kerlin
Grant ID: NIH HL19-015

Recovery after COVID-19 Hospitalization (REACH) (Co-Investigator)

The major goal of this study is to rapidly gain and share information about COVID-19 in hospitalized and critically ill patients.
Principal Investigator: Hough

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Butler CR, Webster LB, Diekema DS, Gray MM, Sakata VL, Tonelli MR, Vranas KC. Perspectives of Triage Team Members Participating in Statewide Triage Simulations for Scarce Resource Allocation During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Washington State. JAMA Network Open. 2022 Apr 1; 5(4):e227639. PMID: 35435971
Gershengorn HB, Vranas KC, Ouyang D, Cheng S, Rogers AJ, Schweiger L, Cooke CR, Slatore CG. Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Author Gender and Manuscript Acceptance Rates among Pulmonary and Critical Care Journals. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 2022 May 19. PMID: 35588358
Peltan ID, Caldwell E, Admon AJ, Attia EF, Gundel SJ, Mathews KS, Nagrebetsky A, Sahetya SK, Ulysse C, Brown SM, Chang SY, Goodwin AJ, Hope AA, Iwashyna TJ, Johnson NJ, Lanspa MJ, Richardson LD, Vranas KC, Angus DC, Baron RM, Haaland BA, Hayden DL, Thompson BT, Rice TW, Hough CL. Characteristics and Outcomes of US Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19. American Journal of Critical Care : An Official Publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. 2022 Mar 1; 31(2):146-157. PMID: 34709373
Valley TS, Schutz A, Peltan ID, Vranas KC, Mathews KS, Jolley SE, Palakshappa JA, Hough CL, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Clinical Trials Network for the Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL). Organization of Outpatient Care After COVID-19 Hospitalization. Chest. 2022 Jun 1; 161(6):1485-1489. PMID: 35108571
Vranas KC, Golden SE, Nugent S, Valley TS, Schutz A, Duggal A, Seitz KP, Chang SY, Slatore CG, Sullivan DR, Hough CL, Mathews KS. The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Intensivists' Well-Being: A Qualitative Study. Chest. 2022 Aug 1; 162(2):331-345. PMID: 35568205

Jessica J Wyse, PhD MPP is an Assistant Professor in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and a Core Investigator with CIVIC. She received a doctorate in Sociology and Public Policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. She began at CIVIC as an HSR&D postdoctoral fellow in 2016. Dr. Wyse’s research seeks to understand how to enhance access to, and delivery of, medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and other evidence-based treatments for substance use disorders. Her research has documented VA’s efforts to increase patient access to MOUD, as well as persistent disparities in access and retention in MOUD treatment. She often uses qualitative research methods to draw out patient experiences and perspectives with the goal of informing and improving upon programs, policies and care delivery. She has also conducted substantial research addressing individuals involved in the criminal justice system, including research addressing the prisoner reentry process and community correctional system. Her VA Career Development Award focuses on expanding access to opioid use disorder treatment for Veterans in rural, primary care settings.

You can contact Jessica Wyse by email at Jessica.Wyse@va.gov.

Expanding Access to Opioid Use Disorder Treatment with Buprenorphine in Rural Primary Care Settings (Principal Investigator)

This is a training grant that will build expertise in implementation science and partnered research in service to improving the treatment of substance use disorders among vulnerable Veterans. Research Aims will investigate the availability and successful delivery of buprenorphine for rural Veterans diagnosed with opioid use disorder, and design and deploy an implementation strategy to facilitate the integration of buprenorphine in rural VA settings.
Grant ID: VA CDA HX003007-01A1

Chronic pain management and patient-centered outcomes following discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy (Co-Investigator)

You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.

Wyse JJ, Mackey K, Lovejoy TI, Kansagara D, Tuepker A, Gordon AJ, Todd Korthuis P, Herreid-O'Neill A, Williams B, Morasco BJ. Expanding access to medications for opioid use disorder through locally-initiated implementation. Addiction science & clinical practice. 2022 Jun 20; 17(1):32. PMID: 35725648
Wyse J, Lovejoy J, Holloway J, Morasco, B, Dobscha, S, Lovejoy T. Patients’ Perceptions of the Pathways Linking Chronic Pain with Problematic Substance Use. PAIN. 2021; 162, 3. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002077
Wyse JJ, McGinnis KA, Edelman EJ, Gordon AJ, Manhapra A, Fiellin DA, Moore BA, Korthuis PT, Kennedy AJ, Oldfield BJ, Gaither JR. Twelve-Month Retention in Opioid Agonist Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Among Patients With and Without HIV. AIDS and Behavior. 2021 Sep 8:1-1
Wyse JJ, Morasco BJ, Dougherty J, Edwards B, Kansagara D, Gordon A, Korthuis PT, Tuepker A, Lindner S, Mackey K, Williams B. Adjunct interventions to standard medical management of buprenorphine in outpatient settings: A systematic review of the evidence. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2021 Jul 29:108923
Wyse JJ, Herreid-O’Neill A, Dougherty J, Shull S, Mackey K, Priest KC, Englander H, Thoma J, Lovejoy TI. Perioperative Management of Buprenorphine/Naloxone in a Large, National Health Care System: a Retrospective Cohort Study. Journal of general internal medicine. 2021 Sep 20:1-7

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